In mid-March, it emerged that a German drone manufacturer had been the victim of alleged espionage leading to the arrest of two suspected spies thought to have passed on secret information to Russia. The Federal Public Prosecutor General accuses the suspects of collecting information about the company both on-site and online on behalf of the Russian secret service.
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In another case at the end of March, a Ukrainian national was arrested, also accused of espionage activities. The Public Prosecutor General accused him of having collected information about a former fighter in Ukraine on behalf of Russia’s secret services. The spying operation may also have served to prepare further intelligence operations against the target in Germany, according to lawyers.
In January, a businessman from Nuremberg was arrested for allegedly supplying technology for underwater espionage to Russia for years. The technology originally came from Germany, but was passed to Russia via an international network of companies from all over Europe.
And these are not isolated cases. According to a confidential report from the Federal Criminal Police Office, a total of 321 suspected cases of sabotage were registered in 2025, as reported by the regional public broadcasters NDR and WDR, which has access to the paper. Sabotage is said to have been particularly frequent in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony.
Growing number of defence partnerships
The defence industry is growing, with an increasing number of industrial firms, such as Rheinmetall, relocating parts of their production or repositioning themselves. For example, the Pierburg plant in Berlin, which previously supplied car parts, is set to manufacture artillery ammunition in future.
The defence company Quantum Systems is expanding its production and has decided on at least three new joint ventures, project-related collaborations with other companies, as announced by the Munich-based scale-up.
“Quantum Systems is and will remain a leading player in German-Ukrainian industrial cooperation,” explains Matthias Lehna, Managing Director of Quantum Frontline Industries (QFI). The company manufactures drones for the Ukrainian armed forces and 10,000 units are to be delivered, with the first batch entering the country at the end of March.
“Our joint venture QFI shows that production capacities can be built up in Germany within a few weeks and operational systems can be reliably delivered to Ukraine,” Lehna continues. “We are convinced that this form of cooperation forms a central basis for Europe’s future defence capabilities.”
Details of at least two further joint ventures with Quantum Systems are still to follow. However, the situation is generally clear. This is because the defence industry has recently been the target of more and more espionage and sabotage attacks. According to a report, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution approached several companies in March to warn them of such incidents and a national economic protection strategy was also adopted.
Warning newcomers to the security industry
The threat is not new, but is becoming increasingly acute and Germany’s intelligence services are keen to warn newcomers to the industry in particular.
“Authoritarian states are increasingly using hybrid means – from espionage, cyberattacks and sabotage to disinformation and illegal knowledge leakage – specifically against our economy, research institutions and critical infrastructures,” explained Sinan Selen, President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).
“In view of the intensified international security situation, we must consistently harden the security architecture in Germany,” he said at the security conference on 19 March.
The defence industry is booming and the defence sector is expanding rapidly, with a notable side effect: many new entrants to the industry are being warned by security authorities of potential threats.
According to the BfV, it is currently raising awareness of spying and sabotage attempts in the business sector as well as “specific companies on specific occasions”, but also research and educational institutions, according to the business magazine Capital.
According to the report, there is ongoing advice on self-protection and spying operations are particularly likely, especially in the environment of start-ups that are gaining a foothold in the defence industry.
The threat situation no longer only includes drone overflights; since 2022, sabotage and espionage have also become increasingly important. According to information from Capital_,_ threats from Russia in particular have increased significantly over the past three years. Violent attacks can also no longer be ruled out. This particularly affects regions with a strong industrial base.
National economic protection strategy
Selen says resilience is the central principle: “The state, politics and business must work together to create structures that can withstand attacks and enable rapid responses.”
This includes the new KRITIS law passed in January to protect critical infrastructure, as well as the establishment of a Joint Defence Centre. According to Selen, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution itself is also undergoing a transformation process. The aim is to recognise threats at an early stage in future, thwart attacks and provide effective support to companies.
The Cabinet also adopted a national economic protection strategy in mid-March. It “provides a clear framework for implementing security measures in a structured manner and sustainably increasing the resilience of Germany as a business location,” says Selen. “Together, we want to ensure that Germany is prepared for hybrid threats – both nationally and internationally.”
The strategy comprises three core objectives: the further development of the framework conditions for companies and the service portfolio of the security authorities, the collective increase in resilience through cooperation between state and private actors and the individual increase in resilience in business and science.
Hybrid attacks “are increasingly aimed directly at companies. This means that today more than ever, the economy must be seen as a central component of the overall national security architecture,” warns Johannes Strümpfel, President of the VSW Federal Association.
“Economic defence is a strategic location factor for competitiveness and technological sovereignty. Our task is to further strengthen the defences of the German economy together with politicians, the security authorities and our regional and state associations,” Strümpfel continued.
The Association for Security in Business is organising the 21st German IT Security Congress in the coming days together with the authorities of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Federal Intelligence Service.
