German authorities announced Monday that they were investigating the flight by at least ten drones of the military zone of the Eurofighter aircraft manufacturing site. The investigation was entrusted to the Bavarian Criminal Police Office, under the direction of the Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism (ZET) of the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office, according to a joint statement from the two institutions which also launched a call for witnesses. The facts concern in particular the site where Airbus Defense and Space manufactures the Eurofighter combat aircraft, in Manching, north of Munich, in southern Germany.
On Sunday evening, local police “were informed of a drone flight over the Manching military security zone,” according to the statement. “The deployed police officers were able to detect up to ten drones flying over the area,” specify the German authorities, who add that “despite intensive searches, in particular by a police helicopter, the person(s) responsible could not be identified” .
This flyover is only the latest in a series of “drone observations over federal army installations in Manching and Neuburg an der Danube”, another site located a few kilometers further ‘west. Thus, on December 16, twice, then on the 18th and 25th, drones were spotted by the military or witnesses above the Manching military zone “for which a no-fly zone prevails,” indicate the Bavarian authorities.
Several active drones were also observed in Neubourg on December 19. Searches to find the pilots were unsuccessful.
The call for witnesses aims to be able to identify “suspicious people or vehicles” on the two sites and to collect clues linked to “possible espionage attempts”.
Without directly accusing Russia, the authorities hypothesize possible espionage “on military installations and arms partners or companies” in “the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine” .
The military use of drones has increased since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, either as a weapon of war between the two belligerent countries, or as a weapon of espionage as part of “hybrid warfare” that the West accuses Moscow of carrying out.
Since this summer, unidentified drone flights have been observed in a German industrial zone near the North Sea and over sensitive industrial equipment in Germany as well as the American air base at Ramstein.
