As Germany invests heavily in drones, Munich has emerged as the nation's hub for development. Amid drone sightings in other parts of the EU, the focus is increasingly shifting to air defence.
00:00Drones. They can help decide the outcome of a war.
00:06Germany is investing heavily in new developments.
00:09The southern city of Munich is the center for drone technologies in the country.
00:13Innovations that are set to make Germany a world leader thrive here.
00:19The University of the German Federal Armed Forces near Munich is a breeding ground for new ideas.
00:25Current project? Drones that recognize dangers in the ground.
00:29With the help of algorithms and high-tech sensors. Buried mines are shown here in light blue.
00:36We are not trying to identify the mine as such here, but its impact on the environment.
00:42They bury something, the grass no longer grows as well.
00:45It has an impact on the vegetation or they leave traces.
00:48We can sense this with a technology that we call anomaly detection.
00:53These light patterns are made by drones.
00:56Flying many of them in a swarm is a particular technical challenge.
01:00The German military aims to master this, because drones in a swarm can perform different tasks at the same time.
01:07A new Munich-based startup could provide the necessary AI for this.
01:12Drones are equipped in different ways.
01:17Some have cameras, others have radar systems or completely different sensor systems.
01:22And it's always essential to have as precise a picture as possible of the actual situation in order to base tactical decisions on it.
01:29There's an extremely large number of data streams coming in that a single operator can no longer handle well.
01:35And that's where we're building a support system that processes the data streams automatically.
01:40Probably the most pressing issue right now, using drones to defend against other drones.
01:49Following recent drone sightings in the EU, the focus is increasingly shifting to defense,
01:54including at established companies like Quantum Systems in Munich.
01:58Its latest development is the Jäger interceptor drone, with rocket propulsion.
02:05We have what's called an interceptor drone, the Jäger, which is a type of drone capable of taking a drone out of the sky once it's been determined that it's an enemy drone.
02:18At the same time, we have acoustic sensors and radar sensors that are able to analyze this aerial image and identify drones.
02:25And we have a drone system called a sky protector, a stationary system that's also able to detect something with these types of sensors, acoustics and radar,
02:37and then shoot down a drone with a shotgun system.
02:43The German army is in urgent need of innovation, as it's considered to be lagging behind other countries like China or the US when it comes to drone technology.
02:53The big challenge for the German military, especially its procurement and tendering of procedures and so on,
03:03everything that goes with it will be to speed up accordingly in order to keep such procedures from taking years.
03:10Because these new, small, very flexible companies have a problem,
03:15they have relatively little equity and it's relatively difficult for them to get through such protracted procedures.
03:22Speed is of the essence, as the war in Ukraine has shown.
03:29Innovations are being developed here in ever shorter timeframes in order to maintain military capabilities.
03:36Many of the approaches, ideas and products are brand new.
03:41There's little to no development, even by international standards.
03:45The Munich-based drone company could well make Germany a world leader.
03:49The necessary know-how for the next generation of drones is already in place.
03:54In the meantime, no.
03:55The Munich-based drone company could have been in-person.
03:56The Munich-based drone company could have been in place.
03:57The Munich-based drone company would have been located in a way that Manitou Silvia was-
Be the first to comment