On July 10, the ESDI was officially launched at the Representation of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg to the Federal Government. Over 70 guests from politics, the Bundeswehr, academia, science and industry attended the event to discuss Israel’s future role as a partner in the fields of security and defense. Key topics included air defense, digitalization and the use of artificial intelligence,  areas in which Israel is considered one of the world’s technological pioneers.

Speakers at the launch included Hamburg’s First Mayor, Dr. Peter Tschentscher, who spoke about a recent visit to Israel and the city’s close ties with the country; the Bundeswehr’s Inspector General, General Carsten Breuer, who argued for closer integration between the two countries’ defense ecosystems; and Thomas Röwekamp MdB, Chair of the Bundestag’s Defence Committee. A closing panel with the former Israeli Air Force commander, Generalmajor (ret.) Amikam Norkin, and Prof. Dr. Carlo Masala of the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, discussed lessons from the Middle East and Ukraine for European defense planning. The launch was supported by nine corporate and organizational partners.

Small drones (sUAS) have become a defining feature of modern conflict and hybrid security challenges. Their democratized production, dual-use nature, and ease of modification allow a wide range of actors to exploit them for hostile purposes. During the visit of the German Minister of the Interior to Israel in Janu ary 2026, both countries agreed to strengthen their security cooperation including intensified collaboration on counter-drone capabilities (C-UAS).

ESDI’s first counter-drone roundtable, convened in January 2026, brought together political, military, research and industry experts and produced a consistent set of recommendations: tighter coordination between civilian and military authorities over shared airspace, unified situational awareness with clear lines of accountability, modernized low-altitude airspace management, and fully interoperable sensor, effector and command systems rather than any single technology — alongside more agile procurement cycles and, again, a proposed joint Defense Tech Hub.

In February 2026, ELNET convened “Field Proven Security & Defense Technology” as a side-event at Enforce Tac, Germany’s largest defense trade fair, partnering with the Israeli Economic and Trade Mission to Germany, the Israel Export Institute and NEX42. The event followed visits to Israel by German Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt in January 2026 and by the Inspector of the German Army, Lieutenant General Christian Freuding, in February 2026 — both signalling growing appetite for cooperation on cyber defense, counter-drone technology and reserve forces.

Opening remarks were given by ELNET CEO Carsten Ovens and by Uli Grötsch, the German Bundestag’s Federal Police Commissioner, who described a threat picture inside Germany shaped by disinformation, cyberattacks, drone incursions and sabotage. A panel moderated by former Israeli Air Force General Amir Gat explored how Israel’s agile, operations-driven innovation model could work alongside German procurement practice. More than 40 Israeli companies exhibited at the fair.

Germany has built submarines for Israel for roughly 30 years, and in February 2026 the German Navy received “Blue Whale,” the first jointly developed autonomous underwater system, alongside continued cooperation on Sa’ar-6 corvettes. In June 2026, two Israeli maritime-security specialists — Dr. Ehud Eiran, head of the International Relations Department at the University of Haifa, and Gal Vered of the Israeli National Center of Blue Economy and Innovation, together with Elinor Yakobsen of the Israeli Ministry of Economy — met German policymakers, industry and the Federal Academy for Security Policy in Berlin and Hamburg.

The visit culminated in a Hamburg roundtable, held with the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, on threats to ports, undersea cables and offshore energy infrastructure from sabotage, cyber operations and unauthorized drones, and on the shift toward autonomous, networked “system of systems” defense. ESDI’s resulting report proposes a dedicated German–Israeli Defense Tech Hub for maritime technology, and argues that organizational adaptability — not hardware alone — is what Israel’s experience has to offer.