The chairman of the Bundestag’s Parliamentary Oversight Committee, Marc Henrichmann of the CDU, has proposed giving German intelligence agencies the power to launch preemptive cyberattacks against Russian drone manufacturers.
Henrichmann argued that the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) require “the necessary legal and technical capabilities” to detect and counter threats from Russia in time. The proposal forms part of a broader intelligence reform currently being prepared, in which he is actively involved.
“Simply collecting information will no longer be enough,” he said. “The best drone is the one that never takes off and therefore poses no threat to human lives in Germany.”
He added that the agencies should ideally be able “to paralyze and disable an attacking drone in Russia or the factory producing it before it can be directed against a German airport or endanger the lives and health of people in Germany.”
The comments come after a drone fitted with explosives was discovered in early August at Leipzig/Halle Airport near a Ukrainian cargo aircraft. Henrichmann had previously dismissed Russia’s explanations of the incident as unconvincing and called for a stronger response to such threats.
The German government is expected to discuss the planned changes to the laws governing the BND and BfV on August 12. The reform aims to significantly expand the agencies’ operational powers in the cyber domain.