The Technical University of Munich (TUM) maintains research contacts with Russian and Chinese institutions that have military connections, including regular participation in an international aviation conference whose organizing committee features a representative from the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI), according to a DW report. The consultancy Berlin‑Risk has warned businesses about risks of technology leakage from such ties, pointing to TUM’s simultaneous role in a Bavarian defence alliance.
Drone researchers from the university regularly take part in the International Conference on Aerospace and Systems Science and Engineering (ICASSE). The conference’s organizing committee is chaired by scientists from China and includes a member from MAI, a Russian institution linked to the military sector. The German committee member is Professor Florian Holzapfel of TUM.
TUM has said it sees no problem in the cooperation. However, Berlin‑Risk noted that the same university launched a “Security and Defence Alliance” in February, with an agreement signed by the Bavarian government and 15 companies, predominantly from the German defence industry. The consultancy urged businesses to apply rigorous checks before partnering with the university.
Pentagon list and dual-use concerns
On July 23, the U.S. Defense Department updated its list of foreign organisations whose activities it considers problematic for national security. The list includes 130 academic and research institutions from Russia, China and Iran. Both MAI and Shanghai Jiao Tong University are named.
Western security agencies and analysts have repeatedly warned about espionage risks in academia and the leakage of critical technologies under the cover of international scientific exchange. Russia and China systematically use joint research with foreign universities to gain access to dual‑use technologies, particularly in aviation and unmanned systems.
Berlin‑Risk’s warning underscores the tension between TUM’s expanding defence‑industry collaboration inside Germany and its ongoing academic exchanges with institutions tied to states that pose strategic threats to the EU.
