Overview
- Saxony logged nine unauthorized overflights of critical sites in the first half of 2025, with up to three drones repeatedly circling a Böhlen‑Lippendorf industrial facility on eight days in January and February.
- Saxony police operate an anti-drone system, yet recent cases yielded little progress in tracing operators behind the illicit flights.
- Germany’s former domestic intelligence chief says Russia is increasingly recruiting helpers to use drones for espionage targeting military areas and critical infrastructure.
- Airspace authorities report persistent activity, including roughly 600 weekly detections in Berlin‑Brandenburg and 131 incidents over sensitive locations in Lower Saxony in 2024.
- Rules, technical limits and divided jurisdiction hamper neutralization, even as agencies procure new detection gear, northern states plan a shared situational picture and the federal coalition sets about €3 million through 2026 for an airport detection ‘real lab’.