“Despite intensive searches, notably by a police helicopter, the person(s) responsible could not be identified,” according to the police.
A Eurofighter in Manching, Germany, January 19, 2024. (AFP / MICHAELA STACHE)
Around ten drones flew over the military zone of the Eurofighter aircraft manufacturing site, German authorities said on Monday January 13, who opened an investigation.
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
ux 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 flight 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 away. Thus on December 16, twice, then on the 18th and 25th, drones were spotted above the Manching military zone “for which prevails
a no-fly zone
“, indicate the Bavarian authorities. Several active drones were also observed in Neuburg on December 19.
The call for witnesses aims to be able to identify “suspicious people or vehicles” and to collect clues linked to “possible espionage attempts”.
“Hybrid warfare”
Without directly accusing Russia, the authorities hypothesize
possible espionage “of military installations
and arms partners or companies” in “the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine”. The use of drones for military purposes has increased since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia at the beginning of 2022, either as a weapon of war between the two belligerent countries, or as a weapon of espionage as part of the “hybrid war” that the West accuses Moscow of waging.
Since the summer of 2024, unidentified drone flights have been observed over several sensitive sites in Germany. In August, they affected several days in a row
an industrial zone in Brunsbüttel
(north) including a shut down nuclear power plant and a liquefied natural gas terminal.
In December, nighttime overflights occurred in western Germany, over the
complex of the BASF chemist in Ludwigshafen
facilities of the Rheinmetall group, one of the largest European arms manufacturers, and the American air base at Ramstein. In these cases too, police investigations were opened.
In the United States, reports of drones or unidentified flying devices reported by residents of the New York or New Jersey regions increased in December, worrying public opinion. American authorities had ruled out any risk to national or public security and brushed aside any suggestion of foreign involvement.
