Multiple drones spotted over base of new Arrow 3 missile defense system

On 1 December 2025 at around 4:40 p.m., three drones of an unknown type were detected over the Bundeswehr's Annaburg radar station in Saxony-Anhalt, the site of Germany's newly deployed Arrow 3 missile-defence system, according to reporting by the public broadcasters NDR and WDR. The drones reportedly circled the facility's radar component at an altitude of roughly 100 metres. The German Armed Forces Operational Command confirmed in writing that a drone overflight had been detected at the location, but declined to give a precise number, citing military-security reasons.

Soldiers were authorised to engage the aircraft. Personnel reportedly deployed a G27P assault rifle fitted with a Smash X4 targeting optic, a system intended for counter-drone use, but the attempt to bring the drone down failed. According to the reporting, an internal document stated that the drone could not be neutralised by the counter-drone measures used, after which it withdrew from view. A Bundeswehr reconnaissance drone was used to obtain visual confirmation.

Military police (Feldjäger) and the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) were notified, and a criminal complaint was filed with police. According to the cited internal assessment, this was at least the second suspicious drone overflight at the Annaburg site, and it occurred two days before the system's official inauguration ceremony. The events were first publicly reported in early January 2026, weeks after they occurred.

Reporting indicates the Bundeswehr internally assessed the overflight as probable intentional reconnaissance, citing the number of drones, the strategic significance of the Arrow 3 system, and the timing shortly before its public inauguration. This is an assessment rather than a proven conclusion; authorities have not publicly identified an operator, and the criminal investigation remains open. The episode fits a broader pattern of unexplained drone activity over German military and critical infrastructure during 2025, though attribution in this specific case is unconfirmed.