German military grounds Quantum Systems drones after malware hits update server

Germany's armed forces grounded Quantum Systems drones after attackers planted malware on the company's update server, disguised as a routine update of QBase, the software used to plan missions for its Vector reconnaissance drone, DroneXL reports, citing Der Spiegel, the Financial Times and Handelsblatt. Quantum Systems confirmed the attack on 12 November and said it found the intrusion at the end of October.

QBase runs on ground computers, not on the drones, and none of the reports says the file was installed on a mission-planning system or what it was built to do. The German Army flies the Vector as the Falke and planned to order 520 systems for delivery in 2026. Accounts differ on the grounding: two people told the FT it was a precaution that kept Quantum Systems out of a recent exercise, Der Spiegel says the whole fleet was grounded for a time last month, and Handelsblatt reports a flight ban in Germany while fleets abroad keep flying.

Quantum Systems says its fleet is operational and that its teams contained the threat with the authorities. Germany's military counterintelligence service, the domestic intelligence agency and the federal IT security office are investigating, Der Spiegel reports. No attacker has been named. The company, valued at €7 billion this year according to the FT, has more than 200 staff in Ukraine.