Germany news: Search for second drone after Leipzig incident
Deutsche Welle · LC · trust 54/100
Investigators are looking for parts of a second drone believed to have hit an aircraft after an explosive-laden drone was found on a runway. Germany's interior minister has spoken of a "new level of danger." DW has more.
https://p.dw.com/p/5IMrM Federal police specialists defused a drone equipped with an explosive device Image: Hendrik Schmidt/dpa/picture alliance Advertisement Skip next section What you need to know What you need to know An investigation team is searching for a possible second drone that is believed to have hit a plane midair German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt described what happened as "a hybrid attack scenario" Western officials have repeatedly accused Russia and its proxies of staging attacks and other incidents across Europe Here is a roundup of top stories from and about Germany on Thursday, August 6, 2026:
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08/06/2026 August 6, 2026 Germany arrests Ukrainian suspected of spying on a defense company in Bavaria German authorities have arrested a Ukrainian man suspected of spying on a defense company in Bavaria to prepare possible acts of sabotage.
Investigators suspect he took photographs of the premises of a Bavarian defense company in June and passed them to handlers working for a foreign intelligence service.
Published 08/06/2026 Published August 6, 2026 last updated 08/06/2026 last updated August 6, 2026 Industry demands action ahead of low-water talks The Rhine, seen here in Cologne, is at record low levels at several measuring spots Image: Martin Meissner/AP Photo/picture alliance Ahead of Thursday's crisis talks in Bonn over exceptionally low river water levels, German industry and shipping groups are demanding concrete measures, including deepenening the river at certain points.
Holger Lösch, deputy managing director of the Federation of German Industries, told the Rheinische Post newspaper that selective deepening would allow ships to carry more cargo during periods of low water and make supply chains more resilient .
"The low-water conference in Bonn must mark the starting point for accelerating targeted deepening of the Rhine," said Lösch.
Lösch also called for more investment in waterways, arguing that Germany's transport infrastructure had been underfunded for decades.
He said planning and approval procedures also needed to be sped up significantly.
Germany's inland shipping association likewise urged the government to act.
"It is high time that the importance of rivers and canals for Germany as a business location is recognized and given greater priority."
Schwanen criticized decades of delays, noting that improving navigability of the Middle and Lower Rhine has been listed as an urgent priority in Germany's federal transport infrastructure plan since 1992.
"It is shameful that the federal government has intended for 34 years to do something for freight shipping and its customers without all that much happening," he said.
08/06/2026 August 6, 2026 Germany calls crisis talks over extreme low river levels German Transport Minister Steffen Bilger is holding high-level talks in Bonn today as extreme low water levels disrupt shipping on the Rhine and other rivers.
Representatives from the shipping industry, ports and businesses are due to attend the meeting around lunchtime.
"We want to assess the current situation together and take short-term action where necessary," Bilger told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper ahead of the talks.
He said the government also wanted to draw longer-term lessons and make Germany's waterways more resilient to increasingly severe periods of low water.
Bilger is due to speak to reporters immediately after the meeting.
Low water levels are forcing inland cargo vessels to carry significantly lighter loads, pushing up transport costs and putting particular pressure on industries that rely on bulk freight.
Can shipping adapt as Germany's busiest river runs dry? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
08/06/2026 August 6, 2026 Expert agrees Leipzig drone marks new threat level The discovery of an explosive-laden drone at Leipzig/Halle Airport has marked a new level of danger to critical infrastructure, agrees aviation expert Hartmut Fricke.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt had also described the incident as a "new quality of threat" and a possible "hybrid attack scenario," an assessment with which Fricke agreed.
Unlike previous drone incidents, the danger is no longer limited to a possible collision with an aircraft or damage caused by the drone itself, the Dresden University of Technology professor told Germany's DPA news agency.
An explosive device significantly raises the potential risk, Fricke said.
Fricke said investigators now needed to establish where the drone came from, how it entered the airport's restricted airspace undetected and why it was only discovered on the runway.
They should also examine how reliably existing security systems can detect small multicopter drones, he said.
If investigators confirm a deliberate attempted attack, the incident would show that Germany is still not good enough at detecting such small objects around critical infrastructure , Fricke said.
Radar, laser, camera and infrared systems can already be combined to detect drones at an early stage, while algorithms can help predict their flight paths.
"The developments are progressing well at prototype level, but implementation on the market and at facilities needs to happen faster," Fricke said.
Asked whether similar incidents were likely to become more frequent, Fricke said: "Unfortunately yes, as long as Russia's aggression does not stop."
08/06/2026 August 6, 2026 What we know about the explosive drone defused at Leipzig Airport If you're joining us now, here is what to know about this incident:
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