Overview
- The Technologiezentrum Drohnensicherheit officially opened on Tuesday at the DLR test site in Cochstedt as the research pillar of a three-part federal plan to tackle dangerous drones.
- The move follows a discovery of a converted, explosive-laden drone at Leipzig/Halle that prompted federal prosecutors to open an investigation and reporting that the device carried two SIM cards and a 5G router.
- The federal strategy pairs the Cochstedt research hub with the DLR site in Braunschweig, an expanding Bundespolizei drone-response unit planned to grow toward about 300 officers, and a joint federal–state defence centre for shared situational awareness.
- Security officials and analysts warned the centre alone will not close urgent gaps noting slow tech transfer, legal limits on countermeasures, unclear real-time coordination across federal and state agencies, and the need for faster field deployment.
- Cochstedt offers large, realistic facilities—a 2.5-kilometre runway, an urban model area and indoor test cages—plans include up to €10 million of expansion funding and roughly 40 new local jobs while research will also support civilian drone uses such as rescue swarms and communications platforms.