BERLIN —The head of Germany's military intelligence said in a rare interview that one of his main challenges was to protect defense projects from industrial espionage by the Chinese and Russian secret services.
The Military Counter-Intelligence Service has until now kept a much lower public profile than Germany's two other larger federal spy agencies — the BND, which gathers foreign intelligence, and the BfV, charged with domestic intelligence.
Chief Ulrich Birkenheier told Die Welt in an interview published Monday that "espionage against international defense projects" was a growing challenge, with foreign agents trying to get hold of information about military trials of new defense products.
(Reuters)