Dozens of unidentified drones hover over German base with no interception

According to internal German military documents, on December 11, 2025, dozens of unidentified drones were detected over the Bundeswehr’s Immelmann Air Base in Lower Saxony. Initially, the military spotted two UAVs and reported the incident to the police.

However, it later became clear that there were far more drones in the airspace above the base. In total, 23 unmanned aerial vehicles were counted. They circled over the base for several hours without any interference, while police and military forces merely observed, as they were unable to shoot them down.

Over the following days, the mass UAV flights over the base continued. The drones varied in type, including models with wingspans exceeding two meters. The military attempted to counter the drones using electronic warfare jamming systems, but these efforts failed. No live fire was opened on the UAVs.

A Bundeswehr spokesperson confirmed the incident to the outlet but declined to provide any details. Experts believe the flights were linked to Russia, had an intelligence-gathering purpose, and that the drones may have been launched from Russian vessels near Germany’s coastline.

It is worth noting that Germany recently identified a security vulnerability during the deployment of one of Europe’s key missile defense systems, Israel’s Arrow 3. While air defense radar systems were deployed, three unidentified drones flew overhead, and none were neutralized.

In 2025, Germany recorded a sharp increase in cases of unauthorized drone activity. Law enforcement agencies counted more than a thousand suspicious drone flights across the country, most of them occurring over military facilities.