German police said Monday they were investigating drone sightings over two military installations, at a time when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put the country on alert for espionage.
Police in the southern state of Bavaria said they were investigating, together with prosecutors, several incidents in which drones flew over military installations in Manching and Neuburg an der Donau.
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On Sunday police spotted up to 10 unmanned aerial vehicles flying in a secured military zone in Manching, which hosts a military aerodrome and is where the Eurofighter jet is developed by Airbus.
Eyewitnesses also saw several drones at the same site on Dec. 16 and 18, as well as in the early hours of Christmas Day.
On December 19, three drones were in Neuburg an der Donau, also over an army air base.
The two sites are approximately 20 kilometers (12 mi) apart, just south of the city of Ingolstadt.
Police said they undertook “extensive investigations” into the incidents, including the deployment of helicopters, “as it cannot be ruled out that military installations and defense companies are being spied on in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”
However, police have not yet been able to find out who was piloting the drones.
Police have appealed to the public to provide any applicable information, adding the presence of “other suspicious persons or vehicles” near the two sites.
The incidents are being investigated for possible breaches of legislation prohibiting “taking images which threaten security.”
In May 2024 a Eurofighter jet was damaged after colliding with a drone while landing at the site in Manching.
In recent months, several drones have also been detected in a commercial domain near the North Sea and near the U. S. Ramstein air base.
Germany has been hit in years by a series of high-profile cases of alleged espionage for foreign powers.
A Chinese woman arrested in October in Germany, accused of spying on defense industry facilities.
Police also launched an investigation in December against a Chinese man who allegedly took photographs at a naval base on the Baltic Sea coast of Gerguyy.
Later this year, a series of mysterious drone sightings in the U. S. state of New Jersey sparked international curiosity, prompting the government to announce restrictions on drone flights.
However, U. S. federal officials insisted there was no “risk to national or public security” similar to the sightings and rejected any suggestion of foreign involvement.
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