Schuster: Risk Analysis Is Essential for Drone Defense

In light of potential drone attacks, Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) considers a risk analysis in Saxony to be essential. He said after the cabinet meeting in Dresden that particularly relevant targets include dams, power plants, water infrastructure, and the Dresden microchip cluster. This can be achieved with both stationary and mobile defense systems.

Schuster Supports Stationary and Mobile Systems for Drone Defense

“We’ll need both,” the minister said. However, mobile systems are three to four times as expensive as stationary ones. Based on current technology, a mobile system would cost about nine million euros, while a stationary one would cost around two to three million euros. 

A 100-percent drone defense network is not possible

Schuster pointed out that the federal government is responsible for drone defense at airports. Leipzig Airport is among the eight airports in Germany that are being treated as a priority. The federal government must deliver on this.

Schuster also emphasized, however, that neither the federal government nor the states could ever establish a 100 percent drone defense network over Germany. The key is to be in the right places with the resources available. 

Just how serious the threat from drones can be was recently demonstrated at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Two weeks ago, a modified drone loaded with explosives was discovered there among Ukrainian cargo planes. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office described it as a “serious attack on Germany’s transportation and logistics infrastructure.”