Rheinmetall and Deutsche Telekom have announced a collaboration aimed at developing a comprehensive protective system designed to safeguard Germany’s cities and critical infrastructure from threats like drones and sabotage. The companies revealed this partnership on Monday, ahead of the AFCEA security exhibition in Bonn.
According to the firms, the current volatile geopolitical climate has placed increased emphasis on securing critical infrastructure nationwide. They noted that the frequency of hybrid threats, including acts of sabotage and drone incursions, is rapidly rising. To address this, they plan to combine their respective expertise to create a “Multi-Threat Protection Approach” that integrates both physical defense and advanced cybersecurity measures.
Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, highlighted the sophisticated nature of drone threats, stating, “The threat from drones is highly digital. Therefore, its defense requires a connection between sensing capabilities, physical actuators, and secure communication networks”.
Deutsche Telekom’s CEO, Tim Höttges, added that the collaboration will elevate the counter-drone capabilities by leveraging Telekom’s core competencies in connectivity, cloud services, and sophisticated data analysis, taking the defense “to a new level”.