Electronic-warfare systems used by Germany's permanent brigade in Lithuania will gather information on military activity in Belarus and Russia's Kaliningrad region to provide early warning for allied forces, Reuters reported.
Vice Admiral Thomas Daum, the German military's cyber chief, told Reuters the brigade would collect data about military emitters and radar systems linked to Russian and Belarusian forces. Those records would feed electronic-warfare databases for Germany and its allies. Daum said the units would identify activity if it arose.
Daum said Germany relied on existing equipment for decades as its armed forces focused on missions abroad, including Afghanistan, limiting investment in new military capabilities. He said the country now needs to strengthen those capabilities.
Reuters reported that German troops are evaluating several electronic-warfare systems in Lithuania, including tools that detect drones, intercept signals and disrupt transmissions. Other sensors send battlefield information to analysts at a distance.
Patrick Jeschke, who oversees the Bundeswehr's cyber innovation hub, said German buyers now face a large pool of proposals to evaluate. He said the military had struggled to persuade companies to supply such systems before the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Daum said Russian activity in parts of Europe had reached a second stage, which he described as intended to cause harm while remaining below the level of armed conflict. He said cyber and information operations had moved beyond peacetime but had not become open war.
In August, Germany's Cabinet approved a package to expand intelligence services' authority to access communications and disrupt foreign adversaries' operations, Reuters reported. Parliament must still approve the measures. The brigade is due to be fully deployed in 2027.
