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-
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