The German army tests electronic warfare capabilities at the border with Russia

Germany’s permanent brigade in Lithuania will use electronic warfare capabilities to detect and monitor military activities in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and in Belarus, as part of the strengthening of NATO’s eastern flank defenses. The unit is expected to be fully deployed next year.

Vice Admiral Thomas Daum, head of the German military’s cyber structure, said the brigade would collect data on Russian and Belarusian military emitters and radars. The information will be entered into electronic warfare databases used by German and allied forces, enabling systems to quickly identify the emergence of new radars or other threats.

The German military is already testing systems in Lithuania for detecting drones, intercepting signals, jamming, and transmitting data to analysts located remotely.

Daum said Russia’s activities had entered a phase aimed at causing damage below the threshold of armed conflict. Germany is thus expanding its cyber and electronic warfare capabilities, after years in which investments were focused primarily on external missions. The German Cabinet has also approved new powers for the intelligence services, measures that must receive parliamentary approval.