Suspicious Spy Drones Again Spotted Over Ukrainian Military Training Base in Germany
The German army has again spotted suspicious drones over a base where Ukrainian troops are training and is investigating possible espionage, Spiegel reports.
According to an internal report, unidentified drones were spotted six times over the base in Schweising in January. Despite the use of special jamming equipment, the German army was unable to force them to land or identify the operators.
The North Sea airbase is considered an important security facility not only because the German military is training there to use the Patriot air defence system. For several months, the Ukrainian military has also been training at this facility to operate this highly effective system.
The German army suggests that the base may have been spied on through Patriot training, and Russian intelligence services are among the main suspects in these incidents.
Observation of unidentified drones has become a common problem for the German military. Since the beginning of the training of Ukrainian soldiers, unmanned aerial vehicles have repeatedly appeared over training bases. In addition, cars with diplomatic licence plates associated with the Russian Embassy in Berlin have been seen at the gates of such facilities.
‘Sometimes it seems that the enemy wants us to see them trying to spy,’ a German army general recently said.
The current incident is particularly worrying because the Bundeswehr's protective measures have not worked. According to the report, the Schweising base used several systems to combat small drones. Among them is the HP47, which can target and disable a drone by jamming its signal. However, two other defence systems have also proved ineffective.
These developments again raise the question of the Bundeswehr's readiness to counter the threats posed by drones.
Drones are regularly spotted not only over military bases but also over industrial facilities. Experts speculate that Russia may be behind this and believe that Germany is not sufficiently equipped to respond effectively to such challenges.
Recently, it became known that the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office had launched an investigation after drones were spotted flying over Bundeswehr facilities in Manning and Neuburg an der Donau.
Last year, there were also a number of reports of unidentified drones flying over US air bases in the UK. In particular, on 24 November, drones were spotted over three Royal Air Force bases in Suffolk and Norfolk.
It is known that the German army plans to obtain permission to shoot down drones to neutralise threats.