Overview

• Police in Schleswig-Holstein are investigating suspected espionage after coordinated formations, including a reported 'mother drone', were observed over sites in Kiel, along the Kiel Canal and near Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems.
• Germany recorded 144 drone-related disruptions through August, with about 75% in airport areas; Frankfurt logged 35 incidents, Köln/Bonn 12 and Düsseldorf 9, according to the air navigation service DFS.
• Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt proposes revising the Luftsicherheitsgesetz so the Bundeswehr can assist police against drones, including potential shoot‑downs, and he plans a central drone‑defence center.
• Legal limits remain strict: the Basic Law largely restricts military action in peacetime, current rules allow only warnings and forced landings, and experts caution that broader powers may require constitutional changes.
• Debate over emergency thresholds continues as CDU’s Roderich Kiesewetter urges considering the Spannungsfall, while Chancellor Friedrich Merz rejects that view, and the DLR advances counter‑UAS tests in Cochstedt such as jamming, spoofing, ramming and net capture.