Drone That Crashed Near German Wunstorf Air Base May Have Been a Combat UAV

The drone whose wreckage was found last week near the German military air base in Wunstorf, Lower Saxony, may have been carrying explosives.

Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR, and WDR reported this.

According to their report, investigators found a suspicious substance near the drone’s crash site.

Investigators suspect that it may be an explosive substance, but forensic analysis is still ongoing.

The drone wreckage was found late in the evening on September 14 in the Lake Steinhuder area, approximately one kilometer from Wunstorf Air Base.

Germany’s Office of the Federal Prosecutor and the Federal Criminal Police Office are investigating the incident.

Wunstorf Air Base is home to the German Air Force’s A400M military transport aircraft.

The facility serves as the Bundeswehr’s central hub for transporting troops and cargo around the world.

It is currently unknown who operated the drone. German authorities have not ruled out a link between the incident and an alleged sabotage attempt at Leipzig/Halle Airport on August 4.

At the time, a drone carrying explosives was found near a Ukrainian An-124 cargo aircraft. It was intended to blow up the aircraft’s fuel tanks, but failed to explode due to a malfunction of the detonator. Two more drones were later found.

German investigators later established that the sabotage attempt at the airport was organized by an employee of Russia’s military intelligence service.

Sources in U.S. intelligence also pointed to a link between the attack and Russia. The explosives and design of the drone found were distinctive of devices used by Russia’s military intelligence.