The Growing Threat: The Need for Action Against Unmanned Aerial Espionage
Rising Danger from Drones: Germany Lacks a Defensive Strategic Plan - Escalating Drone Risks - Germany Lacks a Defense Strategy
Pen by Falk Steiner~ "-" ~ 6 Mins
Recent events in Schleswig-Holstein: The Brunsbüttel industrial park has experienced multiple close encounters with large drones, even during midnight hours. Nearby lies an LNG terminal that supplies liquefied natural gas to Germany's network, followed shortly by the Kiel Canal locks, and the decommissioned Brunsbüttel nuclear power plant. Rumors quickly surface of Russian intelligence services carrying out reconnaissance missions. The public prosecutor's office is investigating the matter.
Brunsbüttel isn't the only suspicious location in Germany where suspiciously active drones are spotted. Training areas for Ukrainian soldiers, airports, and critical infrastructures are all plagued with drone sightings. The cases are piling up, and the increasing political significance of these incidents casts a shadow over Germany's drone defense capabilities. Are we adequately prepared?
"We're drastically underprepared in terms of drones and effective countermeasures, as well as electronic warfare, in Germany," warns Roderich Kiesewetter, a CDU member of the German Bundestag and former Bundeswehr colonel. "Herein lies major problems for us," he warns Stern.
The Greens are also alarmed by the situation. "There are two issues: a capability gap, which is very real. Currently, there are no adequate systems for defense against military drones," says the Schleswig-Holstein Green party member of the state parliament, Jan Kürschner. "Secondly, there's a problem with allocating responsibilities," Kürschner says, as the drone defense is initially a police matter, which they argue is currently overwhelmed with this issue. "We need to urgently address this problem," Kürschner concludes.
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Responsibility Shuffle: When the Bundeswehr Needs the Police
The responsibility chaos is becoming a security hazard. The Bundeswehr has superior air surveillance capabilities but may only intervene in exceptional cases, such as when immediate danger to a site or soldiers is present. Regarded as the civilian authorities' responsibility outside of military grounds, they must take action.
Owners of critical infrastructures, such as LNG terminals or chemical plants in Brunsbüttel, must protect themselves from disruptions. This is why industrial fire departments and plant protection agencies are standard. "Large chemical plants, substations, wind farms with their data centers, and more, are regulated through private security services," explains Martin Maslaton, representative of the industry association Zivile Drohnen (BVZD). However, these services are legally prohibited from repelling drones.
Maslaton means drones are usually brought to land by disrupting the radio signal between the drone and its operator. This action forces the aircraft to initiate an automatic landing or return to the starting point. To enforce this, a powerful radio transmitter - a so-called jammer - is required. However, using jammers can disrupt other radio networks in the vicinity, so their use by private companies is almost always forbidden; they must call the police instead for any drone activity outside their property.
Elevating the Counter-Drone Game
At least, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern have secured drone defense systems for their police forces in recent months. Officers are currently being trained on these systems.
The Federal Police at Frankfurt Airport will receive a drone defense system from Securiton, designed for "detection, verification, and intervention" - detection, testing, interception. Securiton, a subsidiary of the Swiss Securitas company, has already developed drone defense solutions for the World Economic Forum. Its technology can recognize drones, force them to land, and pinpoint the operators' location. This system targets small and micro drones.
At the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg, a project was carried out to intercept drones. Fighter drones were developed to ensnare unwanted drones with nets launched from the hunter drones. The system, called "Project Falcon," promises an "automatic dogfight," with drone-on-drone combat at the click of a button. This system has been tested at Hamburg Airport and is reported to work, although it is only effective against micro-drones with maximum speeds of 100 kilometers per hour in a restricted area.
Against larger and military-quality drones, the Falcon system seems powerless. Currently, civilian drone defense systems struggle against spying drones like the Russian Orlan or combat drones. These aircraft fly autonomously, are much faster, and can operate at long range. They pose the greater threat.
For CDU Bundestag MP Roderich Kiesewetter, it's clear: Such drones will likely be out of reach with the current equipment. "Artificial intelligence modules for automatic target detection are non-existent," he points out. "The drone defense, for example, on our frigates is insufficient for the threat scenarios, causing limitations in our military capacity, particularly in the Red Sea."
Could armed drones be the solution for shooting down spy drones? Not yet. German governments have been unable to agree on the acquisition of armed drones for the Bundeswehr. Since May, the Bundeswehr has leased five Israeli-made HeronTP drones for deployments abroad, like Mali or Afghanistan, where opposition is mainly armed with rifles, RPGs, pickup trucks, and anti-tank weapons.
However, these drones are of little use for scenarios involving opponents like Russia and its military capabilities, considered slow-moving ducks that would likely be shot down from the sky. Despite the limitations, the Bundeswehr does not currently possess any other combat drones that could potentially shoot down other drones.
Roderich Kiesewetter, therefore, advocates for closer cooperation with Ukraine: "Significant advancements are happening beyond the discussion reality in Germany, and we cannot afford to overlook this. Keeping up with these developments can only benefit us." The Ukrainian arms companies are currently leading experts in this field.
However, there would still be a problem, even if the necessary technology were acquired: shooting down drones over critical infrastructure, like chemical plants, LNG terminals, or power plants, carries high risks. Debris could cause catastrophic consequences, which Jan Kürschner, a Green state parliamentarian, cautions against.
Over in Brunsbüttel, the excitement has subsided for now. For several weeks, the town's night sky has been drone-free. However, lingering unrest remains: "The drone flights have made me think twice, as they carry the conflict in Ukraine right to our doorstep," Mayor Martin Schmedtje tells Stern. Mayor Schmedtje is far from the only German mayor pondering this issue.
There are currently no plans to change the legal provisions for drone flights. Meanwhile, a law concerning better protection of critical infrastructures has been stalled in the German Federal Government for over a year. It was scheduled to take effect in October.
- The Commission, considering the increasing threat of cybersecurity concerns related to unmanned aerial espionage, may adopt implementing acts laying down the rules for the application of this Regulation in the context of drone defense and countermeasures.
- In the wake of these drone incidents, the topic of cybersecurity in technology has become a matter of national importance and public discourse,requiring urgent attention from politics and policymakers.
- As the investigations into the drone activity over critical infrastructures, such as LNG terminals and nuclear power plants, continue, it is essential to address rising concerns in the realm of crime and justice, as these incidents could potentially pose significant threats to national security and public safety.
