In brief

• Three construction vehicles burned overnight on a Rheinmetall site at Kassel-Calden airport in Hesse.
• Police suspect arson and have handed the case to the state-security unit because of a possible political motive.
• The site is planned for a logistics and training centre and a drone test centre, backed by more than 260 million euros in investment.

Fire at Rheinmetall construction site

Three construction machines burned in the early hours of 30 October on a site operated by the defence group Rheinmetall beside Kassel-Calden airport in northern Hesse (У Німеччині на території Rheinmetall сталася пожежа: поліція підозрює підпал, - Spiegel – UNIAN) (Feuer auf Rheinmetall-Baustelle in Hessen - Brandstiftung vermutet – tagesschau.de) (Rheinmetall – Kassel: Staatsschutz ermittelt nach mutmaßlicher Brandstiftung auf Baustelle – DER SPIEGEL). A witness saw flames on the grounds at about 3:15 a.m. local time and alerted the fire service and police (У Німеччині на майданчику Rheinmetall згоріли три машини. Поліція не виключає політичного мотиву – Espreso). Firefighters put the blaze out, but other vehicles parked nearby were also damaged (У Німеччині розслідують імовірний підпал на будівельному майданчику Rheinmetall – Європейська правда).

Investigation and motive

Police said on the morning of 30 October that they assume the fire was set on purpose. Because a political motive cannot be ruled out, the state-security unit of the Northern Hesse police headquarters has taken over the case from the criminal investigation department. Officers have not yet said who is behind the fire or what the motive might be.

What is planned on the site

According to police, a logistics and training centre is planned for the area, along with a drone test centre at the airport. In August, Rheinmetall and the State of Hesse announced investments of more than 260 million euros in the project.

Damage not yet quantified

A police spokesman did not give a figure for the damage on the morning of 30 October.

Wider context

On the same day, an explosion hit a munitions plant in southern Spain. Earlier in the month, unknown people threw incendiary devices at a construction site in front of the company's headquarters in Munich (Pożar w Rheinmetallu. Płonęły maszyny na budowie centrum dronów – Bankier.pl). Authorities in Denmark had warned of a growing sabotage threat against the defence industry.