Germany Creates New Police Unit To Stop Rising Drone Threats

Germany has launched a new federal police unit designed to detect, track, and neutralize hostile drones, a move that follows an unprecedented rise in suspicious drone incursions across the country, as reported by TVP World.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt unveiled the unit at a ceremony near Berlin, explaining that Germany can no longer ignore the growing use of drones for espionage, sabotage, or hybrid warfare, especially as state and non state actors probe European defenses with increasingly bold flyovers.

The new unit began operating with roughly sixty highly experienced officers based in Blumberg, although officials say the team will grow to more than one hundred thirty members as it expands into airports, major cities like Berlin, and high risk locations that include barracks, naval facilities, ammunition depots, and energy infrastructure.

From January to mid October alone, authorities documented eight hundred fifty suspicious drone sightings, a number that includes one hundred twenty two sightings near airports, and security officials say over five hundred incidents in the first quarter targeted sensitive military or industrial sites.

Some involved off the shelf consumer drones, others used professional aircraft with wingspans of up to eight meters, and investigators even reported swarms controlled by larger “mother drones” that used signal lights to coordinate smaller aircraft, a tactic designed to intimidate, overwhelm sensors, and demonstrate capability rather than inflict immediate harm.

Germany has also seen aviation disruptions rise sharply, with one hundred seventy two drone related cases between January and September, a thirty three percent increase that forced temporary airport closures, including a shutdown at Munich Airport in October that affected three thousand passengers.

Similar disruptions have struck Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, and Norway, creating a broader sense across Europe that unmanned aircraft are becoming a preferred tool for hybrid operations.

New Equipment, New Authorities, And A Faster Response

To counter the threat, Germany has committed more than one hundred million euros for 2025 and 2026 to acquire advanced counter drone systems. The new unit already demonstrated several of those systems on activation day, showing how officers can jam control signals at ranges of hundreds of meters, fire net guns to capture drones intact, and deploy AI guided interceptor drones that autonomously fly toward a target, position themselves above it, and drop an entangling net to bring it down.

These tools are sourced from both German and Israeli manufacturers, and officials say that new equipment will be added every eight weeks based on lessons learned on modern battlefields, particularly in Ukraine and Israel.

The funding also complements a separate four hundred ninety million euro program for short range anti drone missiles built by MBDA Deutschland, which are expected to enter production by 2029.

Airports across the country will be upgraded with improved radar, optical sensors, and rapid response systems, and Germany has created a dedicated research and development unit to accelerate detector algorithms and interception capabilities.

German lawmakers approved changes to the Air Security Act earlier this year, giving federal police explicit authority to jam, disable, or shoot down drones when they pose an immediate threat.

The Bundeswehr can support these operations only when police capabilities are insufficient against advanced systems, keeping primary responsibility with the federal police and preventing the overlap of forty two different agencies that previously created a patchwork of competing jurisdictions.

A new Bund Länder counter drone center is also being developed to unify state police forces, the federal police, and the military into a single information and response network.

Hybrid Threats And A Growing European Effort

Security officials increasingly believe that many of the incursions, especially those near military or energy infrastructure, may involve foreign intelligence services testing German response times and sensor coverage.

While the Kremlin denies involvement, analysts see parallels with Russian patterns in the Baltic region and Eastern Europe, and European governments are discussing a coordinated “Drone Wall” that would share detection data, intelligence, and rapid response teams across borders.

Between September and November, sixty one drone related cases were recorded across eleven European countries, a mixture of confirmed aircraft, suspected objects, and uncooperative private flights.

Even unarmed drones can expose vulnerabilities by filming critical infrastructure from unexpected angles, mapping defenses, or forcing airports to halt operations, and Germany’s rapid rollout of the new police unit reflects a shift toward preemptive defense rather than reactive containment.

DroneXL’s Take

Germany’s creation of a nationwide drone interception unit shows how fast unmanned aircraft have evolved from hobby tools into instruments of hybrid warfare, and the scale of the response signals how seriously European governments now view these incursions. DJI owners should pay attention, because policies and detection systems developed for hostile operations often influence the way consumer drones are regulated, monitored, and restricted in civil airspace.

Photo credit: Open Works