The armed forces of the country have recently earned combat drones and are still trying to reach satisfactory levels of defense. “We are all limping when it comes to defending drones,” the German defense minister Boris Pistorius recently admitted. The feeling of insecurity is exceptional since several European NATO countries have reported violation of their air spaces for drones in recent weeks.
The type episodes also occurred in Germany. Last Friday (03/10), a new sighting of drones led to the closure of Munich airport for the second night. “We will do everything to remedy this deficit [na defesa]”Table Pistorius at the German ZDF television station.
The actions have been attributed to Russia, which denies being behind the inconvenience.
Why does Germany go so badly when it comes to defending drones? On the one hand, it is a matter of equipment: using fighters to massacre invading drones, as Poland did in mid -September, is possible, but expensive – and also dangerous if they are in an inhabited region.
Waiting for Rheinmetall Skyranger
This task would be better entrusted to the Skyranger 30 tank in Rheinmetall, which can be mobilized rapidly and is able to fight drones of drones. The German armed forces have acquired 19 of these equipment, but will only be delivered by 2027. And military experts say that the amount is insufficient.
The predecessor of Skyranger 30, Gepard, was rejected by the German armed forces for years and in the end he was broadcast in Ukraine, who uses it with impressive efficiency to reject attacks on Russian drones.
In addition to signal blockers, some drones are also useful in the activity. The armed forces have recently won intercepted German buildings who use the networks to “capture” enemy devices.
“We must reach a defense with multiple layers, in which there are different possibilities of slaughter or overturning of drones: electronic countermeasures, kinetic measures and even low technological such as network launchers”, underlines Ulrike Franke, from the European Center for Foreign Relations (ECFR).
Who is the task of defense against drones?
Another challenge that Germany has to face in defense against drones has to do with the division of responsibilities between the armed forces and the police in 16 states.
It is up to the military to defend the country from attacks that come from the outside, for example of fighters or large drones. They also have the autonomy to act to guarantee the safety of their military structures.
In all other cases, the defense against drones depends on the police, who is responsible for internal security. If a drone spies, for example, a civil airport or industrial installation, it is not possible to trigger the armed forces.
The police even have the means to face drones, but mobilizing them in time is a challenge. Already the creation of “dome antibani” that covers the whole country is something that experts consider unrealistic.
What Germany is planning
The historical division of tasks between police and armed forces is foreseen in the Constitution. But now he has to change in the face of current threats. The plan of the interior minister Alexander Dobrindt is to authorize the military to assist the police in some situations, for example with the slaughter of drones.
Dobrindt also wants to create a new drone defense center to coordinate the work of the Union and States.
In addition, the government also wants to accelerate the acquisition of military use drones. The goal is that by the end of the year the armed forces can “shoot for the real” with the drones, according to the inspector general Carsten Breuer.
In March, the institution also approved the purchase of Kamikazes drones – equipment that explodes to achieve its goal. It is something totally new in Germany.
Learn from Ukraine
Without drones, war is no longer possible. This was evident shortly after the beginning of the war in Ukraine in February 2022. There, the devices are present at hundreds of people on the battlefield, causing much more expensive damage to military equipment. The enemy movements are monitored with drones of spies widely used. It is a technology that has radically changed the way you warn.
Franke, of ECFR, advises Germany to reflect in Ukraine: “It is absolutely clear that NATO countries are keeping an eye on Ukraine and must learn from it when it comes to rapid use, production, modification and defense against drones”.
The German armed forces are under pressure to quickly adapt to the new situation. Political fears have long prevented military personnel from resorting to drones. Critics feared that the use of driver -free flight devices could lead to the trivialization of military violence. And many have seen the autonomous functions that many drones have reservations.
This has changed only with the war in Ukraine. In 2022, the German government decided for the first time to arm its soldiers with drones and ordered guided missiles for the five aeroni -israeli aerona drones. Until then, the armed forces have used exclusively unqualified recognition drones.
At the beginning of this year, the government also decided to buy Droni Kamikazes, inaugurating “the beginning of a new era for the armed forces” in the words of the Ministry of Defense. There, the small disposable drones enter the “Munying Bighing” category – a “ammunition that hangs over the target” before throwing up and exploding.
The classification of Kamikaze drones as “ammunition” has practical reasons: ammunition is fired and therefore consumed. A larger drone is considered a pilot -free plane and is therefore subject to technical requirements much more rigorous by flight safety and staff certification – and which are evaded with the ammunition label.
Innovation walks faster than the bureaucracy of public purchases
The armed forces are already training how to use drones and defend themselves from them – skills that have now been considered fundamental for each soldier – and are therefore acquiring a specific amount of devices for this purpose.
But the military want to avoid the accumulation of drones in their stocks. This is because technology in this business advances so quickly that the traditional path of public purchases – which also presumed long processes for a period of use – would be counterproductive. Therefore, the idea is that suppliers undertake to provide updated equipment in a short time and in large quantities if necessary.
It is not surprising that German start-ups in the artificial intelligence branch come out of these public contracts. One of these companies is Helsing, from Monaco; Founded in 2021, it produced several thousand combat drones in Ukraine.
Source: Terra
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