(Dreamstime)
Germany’s top military officer told The Wall Street Journal, Russia is using drones to probe air defenses in Europe.
Gen. Carsten Breuer said Russia is looking for weakness it can exploit in an attempt to destabilize the continent’s governments and institutions.
“Hybrid attacks are taking place every day in NATO countries,” Breuer told the Journal. “Russia is testing us and looking at how we respond,” so it can refine its tactics for a future conflict.
Breuer’s assessment comes as Germany is producing a new military strategy, the first since the end of World War II.
Last week, German police disarmed a drone with explosives near a Ukrainian cargo plane at an airport, the Journal reported. The matter remains under investigation.
Germany boosted its military spending after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“Russia is our first priority,” Breuer said.
As Europe’s largest economy, Germany should take a leadership role in defending the continent, he added.
Breuer is the leading candidate to become the next chair of NATO’s military committee in September, according to the Journal.
Germany is spending more on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, space systems, and air defense, Breuer said.
“We have the resources. We are building a deterrent that will be powerful,” he added. “We need to make ourselves more independent and sustainable.”
The country’s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, pledged to spend €30 billion ($34.6 billion) by 2030 on satellites and other space assets, the Journal reported.
Germany has also signed a military cooperation agreement with Poland to strengthen the NATO alliance against threats from Russia and an agreement with the U.S. to produce Tomahawk missiles.
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