Drones now fly over areas that until a few years ago were considered relatively protected: power plants, railway bridges, commercial ports, chemical plants. And they often do so by exploiting the same infrastructure that supports the daily communications of millions of people, namely the mobile network.
It is within this increasingly tight intertwining of digital security and territorial defense that a new industrial collaboration is taking shape in Germany. The defense group Rheinmetall and telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom have launched a joint project to develop an anti-drone shield capable of detecting and neutralizing hostile aircraft through sensors, cellular networks, electronic jamming systems, and laser technologies.
DEFENSE GOES THROUGH DATA
In Berlin, the protection of critical infrastructure has now become a political and industrial priority. The war in Ukraine, repeated and suspicious sabotage incidents in the Baltic, and frequent flyovers recorded near military installations and German energy sites have accelerated the debate on the country’s vulnerability. In this climate, the project launched by Rheinmetall and Telekom was born with a precise goal: to adapt anti-drone defense to a threat that increasingly moves through digital networks and Internet connections.
The idea is not to deploy traditional anti-aircraft batteries. The plan rather foresees an integrated platform capable of detecting drones well in advance and blocking them through electronic jamming, interceptor drones, or laser systems. The applications mainly concern sensitive civilian sites, from large energy plants to logistics networks, including industrial plants and strategic bridges.
The project is still in its early stages, but the division of tasks is already defined. Deutsche Telekom will bring its expertise in mobile networks, data analysis, and cloud services; Rheinmetall will work on sensors and so-called effectors, that is, systems capable of physically intervening against drones.
“The threat posed by drones is highly digital,” said Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger. According to the manager, the protection of sensitive infrastructure today requires “a combination of sensors, effectors, and secure communication networks.” Telekom’s CEO, Tim Höttges, also emphasized the technological dimension of the initiative, stating that the project will take anti-drone defense “to a new level.”
THE MOBILE NETWORK AS A SURVEILLANCE TOOL
One of the central aspects concerns the evolution of remote drone control. For years many unmanned aircraft have used traditional radio frequencies, detectable through RF sensors, i.e., Radio Frequency. Telekom already employs passive RF sensors installed on transmission antennas, capable of capturing signals without disturbing mobile network traffic.
In recent years, however – experts explain – the expansion of mobile coverage in Germany has also changed the way drones are controlled. Many devices today can be controlled directly via the Internet, kilometers away from the operator and without the need for a traditional remote control.
For German companies and authorities, this opens up a completely new front. Telekom is working together with the Bundeswehr University of Hamburg on systems where the mobile network itself becomes a sort of digital radar, able to recognize anomalies in data traffic associated with the presence of drones. The goal is to identify aircraft as early as possible, before they reach sensitive areas or manage to bypass conventional defenses. This technology should then flow directly into the project developed together with Rheinmetall.
FROM THE PORT OF HAMBURG TO ENERGY SITES
For Rheinmetall, the anti-drone segment has long been one of the most important growth areas. The company not only produces military drones but also develops interception systems based on advanced sensors and laser technologies. In recent months, the group has strengthened its presence also in civil security, starting a collaboration with the Hamburg police and the city’s port to study countermeasures against possible intrusions or unauthorized flyovers.
On the political level, the alliance between the defense industry and telecommunications reflects a change in perspective: after decades of keeping civil infrastructure separate from military security, Germany today considers digital protection of the territory an integral part of national security.
