In Germany, over a thousand drones recorded over critical infrastructure and military facilities

In Germany, 747 incidents involving suspicious drones have been recorded from the beginning of 2026 to the end of August. In total, law enforcement counted 1,068 drones over critical infrastructure, military facilities, and defense industry enterprises.

This is according to a confidential situational report from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), obtained by NDR, WDR, and Süddeutsche Zeitung.

For comparison, in the entire year 2025, about 1,300 incidents involving drones were registered in Germany.

Law enforcement manages to identify the operators of suspicious drones in only isolated cases. Moreover, not every such flight is related to espionage or activities of foreign intelligence services.

One of the cases that raised suspicion among law enforcement occurred in July in Bavaria. There, a citizen of Moldova was detained on suspicion of using a drone to observe a plant of the defense company KNDS. Investigators assume that he may have been acting on behalf of Russian state structures.

Over 160 suspected cases of sabotage

The drone data is part of broader statistics on possible hybrid attacks in Germany. As of the end of August, the BKA counted more than 165 cases that law enforcement regards as possible sabotage.

This category includes not only cases involving drones but also attempts to reconnoiter facilities by other means.

Since the beginning of the year, the German Federal Prosecutor General and specialized prosecutors' offices in the federal states have opened 24 investigations on suspicion of espionage. Half of them relate to cyber espionage. Another roughly 40 cases are in the preliminary review stage.

In total, federal and state police registered 112 offenses related to espionage activities. In more than 60 cases, it involved unauthorized photographing or video recording of military facilities or defense products.

In another 26 cases, law enforcement suspects agent activities that may have been aimed at preparing sabotage.

The most such offenses – 23 – were recorded in Brandenburg. In North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein, 21 cases each were registered, and in Lower Saxony, 15.

Security guard beaten near gas facility

A separate sensational incident occurred on the night of August 9 near a natural gas treatment plant in Großenkneten in Lower Saxony.

A security guard noticed drones over the facility and went along the fence to look for their operators. During the check, he saw two people in dark clothing and balaclavas.

According to a police report, after the guard spoke to them, one of the unknown persons headbutted him into the hood of a car. The man sustained minor injuries, and the attackers fled. The search yielded no results.

At the same time, the investigation has not yet established whether these were the people controlling the drones spotted over the plant.

German law enforcement is increasing attention to such incidents amid a growing number of possible hybrid attacks. In mid-June, the Joint Center for Combating Hybrid Threats GAZ-Hybrid began operations in Berlin, bringing together the efforts of police, intelligence services, and other federal and state agencies.

Based on: Tagesschau / NDR / WDR, NDR