Hecklingen (Germany) (AFP) – Germany on Tuesday opened a new drone defence research centre to help combat the growing threat posed by unmanned aerial vehicles after a surge in suspicious sightings over critical infrastructure.

The inauguration of the site, at a Soviet-era airfield in the former East Germany, comes less than two weeks after an explosives-laden drone was found at Leipzig airport, a key logistics hub for weapons sent to Ukraine.

Drone sightings have multiplied over other key sites, from military bases to airports, with suspicion often falling on Russia due to Germany's long-running support for Ukraine in its fight against Moscow.

Russia has consistently denied conducting any such operations.

"We are significantly strengthening our ability to respond to hostile drones," German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said at the opening of the centre, which will focus on detecting and identifying unmanned aerial vehicles.

The site "will constitute a central element of the security architecture in the face of the hybrid threat posed by drones," he added at the site on a former commercial airport in Hecklingen about 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of Berlin.

Berlin uses the term hybrid warfare to refer to hostile actions short of unambiguous military attacks, including espionage, arson and sabotage, by or on behalf of foreign powers.

Last year nearly 1,000 suspicious drones flew over critical infrastructure in Germany, according to police.

Dobrindt warned that the explosive found at Leipzig earlier this month was no "isolated case".

"Leipzig is part of a wider picture," he said. "The threat situation has become more acute."

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