Germany’s Federal Interior Ministry opened a new drone-security technology centre at the German Aerospace Center’s test airport in Cochstedt, as Alexander Dobrindt described drone defence as a permanent task and warned of a fast-moving arms race between protective systems and the methods used to defeat them. The facility is intended to research, develop and test detection and defence technologies under real-world conditions, with the ministry presenting it as a key part of Germany’s expanding counter-drone architecture.
Dobrindt linked the issue to wider hybrid threats, including espionage, sabotage and influence operations. He also cast the Cochstedt centre as the third pillar of the national strategy, alongside a Bundespolizei drone-defence unit and a joint federal-state drone-defence centre. The Bundespolizei unit currently has about 70 personnel and is due to grow to 300 by year-end, reflecting the scale-up under way as drone incidents and defensive countermeasures evolve quickly.
The interior minister’s description of the technical cycle as lasting only around eight to twelve weeks underscores the pace of escalation in the sector. The new centre is designed to support testing in operationally relevant conditions, giving authorities and industry a platform to adapt equipment and tactics as unmanned aerial threats become more complex.