For months, it has been claimed that there have been repeated, unexplained drone flights over Germany, allegedly targeting military bases, airports, and power plants. In response, the government is planning to amend the Air Security Act. However, this change could unexpectedly put the residents at risk.
According to a report by the Spiegel, the planned changes would allow soldiers to shoot down drones using ground-based missile systems, and the use of combat jets to neutralize drones with guided missiles would also be possible.
The report also mentions an incident in which, due to a Dutch warning, two Eurofighters took off to engage the object, only to find it was a loose weather balloon.
What is not mentioned, however, is that granting such permission would turn a harmless incident, potentially staged by private drone enthusiasts, into a real risk. If the German military were to shoot down a drone, it would typically use multiple missiles, and at least the second missile would not explode on target, but rather in the air, potentially later, and not always safely.
Only a drone defense using shotguns, suitable for relatively low-flying targets, or electronic warfare, would be safe for the people living near military bases or airports (although the question of whether electronic interference could not also affect ordinary vehicles in the area would still remain).
Furthermore, the list of targets allegedly being targeted by supposed saboteurs, as reported by the Deutschlandfunk, is even longer: “Infrastructure for energy, telecommunications, transportation, or industry.”
In densely populated Germany, it is likely that only a few areas would allow a drone to fly for more than a minute without hitting an object.
In a report by the SWR two days ago, a terrorism expert emphasized that a drone pilot is not a classical police threat like an unsecured accident site or a man with a weapon at a bank counter.
He also pointed out that even a successful attempt to bring a drone down would “pose risks from falling objects.” The reaction planned by the outgoing government of the Ampel coalition, he saw, was extremely critical:
“Military systems capable of shooting down larger drones pose great risks for people on the ground – regardless of the question of whether they are allowed to be used in peacetime in Germany. Moreover, a single shot from such a system is extremely expensive – we’re talking about six-figure sums.”
It appears, however, that the companies in the arms industry would have a benefit from such an amendment to the Air Security Act, as they could test their products in Germany, regardless of the safety of the residents.