Munich Airport (www.munich-airport.com)
October 3, 2025 (Update)
On Thursday evening (October 2), several drones were sighted in the vicinity of and on the grounds of Munich Airport. The first reports were received at around 8:30 p.m. Initially, areas around the airport, including Freising and Erding, were affected.
The state police immediately launched extensive search operations with a large number of officers in the vicinity of the airport. At the same time, the federal police immediately carried out surveillance and search operations on the airport grounds. However, it has not yet been possible to identify the perpetrator.
At around 9:05 p.m., drones were reported near the airport fence. At around 10:10 p.m., the first sighting was made on the airport grounds. As a result, flight operations were gradually suspended at 10:18 p.m. for safety reasons. The preventive closure affected both runways from 10:35 p.m. onwards. The sightings ended around midnight. According to the airport operator, there were 17 flight cancellations and 15 diversions by that time. Helicopters from the federal police and the Bavarian state police were also deployed to monitor the airspace and conduct searches.
Munich Airport, in cooperation with the airlines, immediately took care of the passengers in the terminals. Camp beds were set up, and blankets, drinks, and snacks were provided. In addition, 15 arriving flights were diverted to Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Vienna, and Frankfurt. Flight operations resumed as normal today (Friday, October 3).
Responsibilities and cooperation
Within the scope of their respective tasks, the German Air Traffic Control (DFS), the state aviation security authorities, the state police forces, and the federal police are responsible for the detection and defense against drones at commercial airports.
The measures are carried out in close coordination between all parties involved and the airport operator on the basis of jointly developed emergency plans. The local state police force is responsible for preventive policing in the vicinity of the airport, while the federal police is responsible for policing on the airport grounds. Criminal prosecution is the responsibility of the state police.
Note: Please understand that for tactical reasons, the security authorities are unable to provide any further information on the systems and measures used. Further investigations will be conducted by the Bavarian police, as they have jurisdiction in this matter.
| Euractiv euractiv.com Sep 23, 2025 - 09:44 Chris Powers
AFP
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Euractiv
Danish police said on Tuesday that they did not know who was responsible for flying drones over Copenhagen airport the previous evening, but that they appeared to have been knowledgeable.
Overnight on Monday, the appearance of drones caused the main airports of both Denmark and Norway to close for several hours, causing flight diversions and other travel disruption. While flights are now resuming, heavy travel delays were expected to last throughout Tuesday.
“The number, size, flight patterns, time over the airport. All this together … indicates that it is a capable actor. Which capable actor, I do not know,” Danish police inspector Jens Jespersen told reporters at a press conference Tuesday morning.
The airport was closed for several hours before reopening early Tuesday, causing numerous delays and travel disruptions to 20,000 passengers, airport officials said.
Among those affected was European Commissioner Roxana Mînzatu, whose plane was diverted from Copenhagen to the Swedish town of Ängelholm.
Police said several large drones were seen over the Danish capital’s Kastrup airport on Monday. A heavy police presence was dispatched to investigate the drone activity, and the devices could be seen coming and going for several hours before flying away on their own.
“The drones have disappeared and the airport is open again,” Deputy Police Inspector Jakob Hansen told reporters. “We didn’t take the drones down,” he added.
Who dunnit?
Hansen said police were cooperating with the Danish military and intelligence service to find out where the drones had come from. He said police were also working with colleagues in Oslo after drone sightings in the Norwegian capital also caused the airport to close for several hours.
“We had two different drone sightings,” said Oslo airport spokeswoman Monica Fasting.
Though no culprit has been definitively identified, there is already speculation.
“Obvious to view the drones over Kastrup as a hybrid attack” was the title of a live blog post by Jakob Hvide Beim, defence editor at leading Danish newspaper Politiken. He went on to explain that the authorities have been warning about the risk of Russian hybrid attacks against Denmark “for some time now”.
Why Denmark specifically? Copenhagen’s track record of significant Ukraine support, Hvide Beim says, noting as example Denmark having “taken the lead by offering Ukrainian arms factories the opportunity to open production” in Denmark.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on X about a Russian incursion of Danish airspace on 22 September, albeit without providing proof or substantiating further.
Last night’s drone incursion over Denmark and Norway comes after a spate of Russian aerial incursions over NATO territory. Two weeks ago, Poland shot down several of the 20 Russian drones that entered its airspace which led Warsaw to activate NATO’s Article 4 – meaning it believes there is a credible threat to the country’s security.
Friday last week, Russian fighter jets entered Estonian airspace, lingering for 12 minutes and prompting Tallinn to likewise initiate conversations under the umbrella of Article 4, which will take place today.
(cp, vib)
A volunteer-run network of service centers halts custom firmware updates for DJI drones following a cyber attack.
Can a cyber operation have an impact on drone warfare? Recent developments in Russia offer an example of how this can happen in a not-so-obvious way.
On Friday, a volunteer group Russian Hackers for the Front (“Русские Хакеры – Фронту”, RH) known for building a customized firmware for DJI drones reported a cyber attack that affected its servers and end-point devices (terminals). While recovering from the attack, RH instructed hundreds of service centers to stop using its terminals until further notice, thus pausing a wide operation of weaponizing commercial drones.
Although details are scanty, this is a rare publicly reported cyber attack that affects drones warfare and might have militarily significant consequences.
In this post I will summarize what is known about the attack and provide additional information about the impact and who might be behind it.
Russia and other hostile states have become increasingly brazen in adopting “gray zone” attacks against Europe and the United States, leaving defense officials with a dilemma: How to respond?
La centrale nucléaire de Gösgen, dans le canton de Soleure, mise sur la technologie des drones pour sa sécurité et l'inspection. Aujourd'hui, la publication involontaire d'images suscite le débat.