Unmanned aircraft were detected over a German military base in Mechernich, a spokesperson for the Bundeswehr operational command confirmed to Agence France-Presse. The security center at the facility in western Germany detected two drones on Thursday evening and notified local police, who arrived at the site and opened an investigation.
The Bundeswehr command declined to provide further details regarding the incident. According to reports by German media outlets Süddeutsche Zeitung and WDR, employees of a private security firm observed a total of six drone overflights at Mechernich between Thursday evening and Friday morning.
The military facility features an underground storage warehouse located 130 meters deep. Spanning approximately 30,000 square meters, an area equivalent to four football fields, the site is used to store military equipment and spare parts.
Patriot Air Defense Storage
The Mechernich site also stores components for the American Patriot air defense system, which intercepts aircraft alongside ballistic and cruise missiles. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Washington last week to meet Donald Trump to secure Patriot missiles, which are the only systems capable of intercepting Russia's most advanced missiles.
The overflights at Mechernich occurred two days after a drone carrying an explosive device was discovered at Leipzig airport in eastern Germany, a strategic transport hub for military equipment. According to the newspaper Bild, a worker at the airport spotted the drone flying low near Ukrainian cargo planes, grabbed the device, and held it to the ground until police bomb disposal experts arrived.
Shortly after that incident, a second unidentified flying object reportedly collided with a cargo plane owned by German logistics company DHL while executing an evasive maneuver near Leipzig airport.
Hybrid Threat Warnings
On Wednesday, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt warned of a new dimension of threat involving a potential hybrid attack scenario, though he did not identify any suspects. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz convened the national security council on Friday to address the situation.
European governments, led by Germany, use the term hybrid warfare to describe Russia's hostile actions. The concept encompasses a range of activities, including sabotage, disinformation, cyberattacks, and espionage.
