BERLIN, August 7. /TASS/. Unknown drones were observed over the Bundeswehr facility in Mechernich, North Rhine-Westphalia, where a significant weapons and spare parts warehouse is situated alongside repair facilities for Patriot air defense systems, according to Sueddeutsche Zeitung, citing a confidential police report.
The newspaper reports that employees of a private security firm documented six drone flights between Thursday evening and Friday morning and promptly alerted police. Early Friday morning, law enforcement officers arriving at the scene also spotted a large drone that briefly circled overhead. Military police suspect the drone was a Fly-380 VTOL model, characterized by a wingspan of up to 3.80 meters. It is capable of reaching speeds up to 150 km/h and with a range of approximately 400 km.
The identity of those responsible for the UAV flights remains unknown. Sueddeutsche Zeitung notes that authorities are ruling out the possibility that a drone used for routine tasks such as topographical surveys inadvertently flew over the base during nighttime hours. A case has been opened on suspicion of unauthorized surveillance of military installations. Investigations are ongoing, involving military counterintelligence (MAD) and the Joint Drone Countermeasures Center in Berlin.
