German police said on Monday they were investigating drone sightings over two military installations, at a time when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put the country on spy alert.
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 saw up to 10 unmanned aerial vehicles flying in a secure military zone in Manching, which is home to a military airfield and where Airbus’ Eurofighter aircraft is being developed.
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 lie around 20 kilometers (12 miles) apart just south of the city of Ingolstadt.
The police said they had carried out “thorough investigations” into the incidents, adding the deployment of helicopters, “as it is ruled out that army facilities and defence corporations are being spied on in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine”.
However, police have not yet been able to determine who was piloting the drones.
Police have asked the public to report any relevant information about the presence of “suspicious persons or vehicles” in the vicinity of the two locations.
The incidents are being investigated for possible breaches of legislation prohibiting “taking images which threaten security.”
In May 2024, a Eurofighter aircraft went wrong after colliding with a drone while landing at the Manching site.
In recent months several drones have also been spotted at an industrial zone near the North Sea and near the US airbase in Ramstein.
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 a probe in December against a Chinese man who was reported to have taken photographs at a naval base on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast.
Late last year a series of mysterious drone sightings in the US state of New Jersey sparked worldwide curiosity, leading authorities there to announce drone flight restrictions.
However federal US officials insisted there was no “national security or public safety risk” linked to the sightings and rejected any suggestion of foreign involvement.
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