“The allegedly sighted drones were of different types and sizes. The state police were on-site and documented these sightings, which are currently being evaluated by the State Criminal Police Office.”
Sütterlin-Waack added that several of the sightings were later determined not to have been illegal drone overflights. Some, however, including those over critical infrastructure, remain unexplained.
“The recent incidents in our neighboring country Denmark as well as in other European countries primarily aim to unsettle the public and destabilize the situation in Europe,” the minister said. In the past few weeks, drones have violated Polish, Romanian, Norwegian and Danish airspace, driving calls to erect a “drone wall” on the EU’s eastern border.
“These are clearly typical instruments of hybrid warfare,” Sütterlin-Waack explained, adding there was no concrete threat to Germany from the most recent incursions.
According to Der Spiegel, swarms of drones were reported over a power plant, a hospital, a factory belonging to the naval division of manufacturer ThyssenKrupp, an oil refinery and even over the Schleswig-Holstein parliament building in Kiel. The drones allegedly took measurements.
Der Spiegel reported similar sightings on the same night, Sept. 25-26, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania near Germany’s border with Poland, such as at an army location in Sanitz and a naval command in Rostock.
Sütterlin-Waack added that several drone flights had previously been observed in August last year in various German states.
Germany’s Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Sept. 27 announced plans to introduce a law that allows the country’s armed forces to shoot down drones.