Efforts to equip German airports with the latest anti-drone measures are being speeded up. As Die Zeit reported, such a system has already begun operating at the country’s largest airport in Frankfurt, Federal Association of Airports (BDL) head Joachim Lang said after a drone equipped with a detonator was found next to a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig-Halle Airport. On Aug. 6, German media reported that the Ukrainian aircraft had been loaded with ammunition.
Lang said the political decision to install the systems at airports was made “at the speed of light” following several drone-related incidents in Berlin last year. But he added the incident at Leipzig-Halle clearly showed the need to speed up protective measures. The BDL head cautioned that “absolute security is impossible,” but promised that by the end of 2026, eight German airports classified as critical infrastructure — Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne-Bonn, Leipzig-Halle, Munich, and Stuttgart — would be equipped with the latest anti-drone systems.
On Aug. 5, Leipzig-Halle Airport was forced to suspend operations after a drone with a detonator was found on the runway near a Ukrainian An-124 cargo plane. German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the people behind the incident were “not amateurs” but instead had planned their operation “extremely professionally.” He said the incident reflected a “new level of threat,” because drones carrying explosives had not previously been recorded at German airports. A foreign state could be behind the incident, he said.
