The German military is planning to purchase more anti-drone equipment to protect its bases from incursion by unidentified surveillance UAVs, security sources have told Tagesspiegel newspaper.
The Bundeswehr decided to boost its capabilities in the field because of increased sightings of “suspicious” drones over the country’s military facilities in recent months, the article says.
The affected locations include ranges where Ukrainian troops are training to operate German tanks and APCs provided to Kiev by Berlin, the paper reported on Saturday. The origin of the aircraft is unknown, it added.
The outlet didn’t reveal the type or the quantity of the anti-drone systems that the German military is going to acquire.
The Bundeswehr currently operates HP-47 jammers, which allow it to take control of an incoming UAV, forcing it to land, crash or fly back to the operator to reveal their location.
The military reportedly started stocking up on those systems last summer after the first drones were spotted flying over the bases. This process is now going to be “intensified,” according to the sources.
The German military owns some 1,500 properties across the country, including barracks, training ranges and administrative buildings. It is forbidden to fly drones over them under Germany’s aviation regulations.
Germany, which spent €2 billion ($2.2 billion) on military aid for Ukraine in 2022, expects to allocate another €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion) to the cause this year, according to the Bundeswehr.
Over the past few months, Berlin has promised to supply 18 Leopard-2 main battle tanks and 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Kiev. The Ukrainian authorities claim that the hardware is going to be used in a major counteroffensive against the Russian forces sometime in spring.
The first group of Ukrainian troops completed their training course on operating Leopard-2s in the middle of March in the state of Lower Saxony. A number of drones have been spotted at this location, according to Tagesspiegel.
Moscow has long decried deliveries of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine by the US, UK, Germany and other EU nations, arguing that they only serve to escalate and prolong the fighting, while failing to change its ultimate outcome.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy head of the Security Council, previously cast doubt on Ukraine’s ability to carry out the proposed counteroffensive, saying claims by officials in Kiev were merely “propaganda.”