Germany halts use of Chinese drones at barracks and military training areas
Key Facts
Germany’s armed forces have stopped using small commercial drones made in China inside barracks and training areas, according to a report published by Der Spiegel on November 10, 2026. A German Defense Ministry spokesman confirmed the directive, saying devices already purchased by the military would be replaced with systems from Germany or Europe. The measure applies in particular to drones made by DJI, which local commanders had been able to buy for training purposes. The decision moves into implementation after the drone strategy allowed commanders to buy commercial systems, including Chinese models. The ministry did not disclose how many devices would be affected by the replacement, citing military security considerations.
The security concerns center on the possibility that drones could transmit images of military facilities and exercises, as well as information about weapons systems. The report said no concrete evidence that such data had actually been transmitted had been published so far. The decision is therefore framed as a precaution against the possible leakage of protected information, rather than as a response to a publicly disclosed incident proving that it occurred. The ministry did not provide details in the statement cited by the report about how the devices would be replaced or on what timeline. But its confirmation that existing devices would be replaced sets out a course that goes beyond halting their use at military sites.
People familiar with the matter estimated that the German armed forces may have bought several thousand Chinese drones, an estimate that indicates the potential scale of the replacement effort. The devices mentioned in the report included the DJI Matrice M30T. The armed forces did not have a complete list of models because purchases were decentralized. This means identifying the devices on hand requires accounting for purchases made by local commanders rather than consulting a unified list, according to the report. The ministry did not disclose the number of drones in its inventory, referring to military security in response.
The drone strategy had given commanders a list in 2024 of systems available on the market and suitable for purchase. The list included several DJI models, according to the report. This background shows that Chinese drones entered the scope of military procurement through local arrangements that followed an official strategy, before the current directive to halt their use. General Martin Schelleis, when he was Inspector of the Joint Support Service, had also banned Chinese drones in 2023 over the possibility that protected information could leak to China. The current decision brings the issue back into focus after the list of available systems included models from the same company in 2024.
In a separate incident reported by The Associated Press in August 2026, two drones were spotted over the Mechernich base at around 10 p.m. Military police were deployed to the site, and Euskirchen police opened an investigation, according to a statement from the German Joint Forces Command. The report did not link that incident to the directive halting the use of Chinese commercial drones inside barracks and training areas. The announced step now is to replace existing devices with German or European systems, while the ministry has not disclosed their number or when the replacement will be completed.