A drone hovers above the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, in March 2024. In early December, unauthorized drones were spotted over Ramstein Air Base near Kaiserslautern, Germany, the 86th Airlift Wing said Monday. (Ayden Norcross/U.S. Army National Guard)
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Ramstein Air Base and German police officials confirmed Monday that unauthorized drones have flown over the sprawling Air Force installation in recent days, though details about the unmanned aircraft remain scarce.
“The number of systems has fluctuated, and they have ranged in sizes and configurations,” the 86th Airlift Wing said in a statement Monday, adding that there were “no impacts to base residents, facilities or assets.”
Wing officials said the small drones were spotted in early December. They declined to say how many appeared, and whether they know where the aircraft came from or who was operating them.
German news outlet Der Spiegel reported last week that the drones were seen over Ramstein in the evening hours of Dec. 3 and Dec. 4. The story cited a confidential report by German security authorities.
The drones flying over the base weren’t the usual commercial hobby aircraft, Rheinland-Pfalz state police said in a statement following a Stars and Stripes query Monday.
The aircraft were first spotted flying over the site of chemical giant BASF in Ludwigshafen in late November, said state police spokesman Bastian Kipping. They were late seen flying over over facilities belonging to the arms company Rheinmetall, according to the Der Spiegel reported.
Drone flights were detected in the dark and around dusk, according to the Rheinland-Pfalz police, who were unable to provide the number of drone flights due to varying reports.
The Rheinland-Pfalz office of criminal investigation has taken over the probe into the flights in coordination with federal authorities, Kipping said Monday.
The flights follow reports of drone sightings around U.S. military installations in the United Kingdom last month, as well as dozens of similar incidents over parts of New Jersey and the East Coast in recent weeks.
In England, drones were repeatedly spotted in the vicinity of RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall, RAF Fairford and RAF Feltwell starting around Nov. 20, U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa said in a statement last month.
The unmanned aerial vehicles seen at those bases were different sizes and configurations, and “none of the incursions impacted base residents, facilities or assets,” the command said in a statement Nov. 26.
USAFE-AFAFRICA and the 86th Airlift Wing said they wouldn’t disclose actions taken in response to the drone activity. Most military commands rarely discuss measures involving force protection publicly.
The stateside drone sightings along the East Coast don’t appear to be a threat to public safety, The Associated Press reported over the weekend, citing New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and law enforcement officials.
State and municipal lawmakers, however, are calling for stricter rules about who can fly the unmanned aircraft, according to the AP.
Stars and Stripes reporter Marcus Kloeckner contributed to this report.
