Bundeswehr Technical Center for Aircraft and Aeronautical Equipment (WTD 61)

The Bundeswehr Technical Center for Aircraft and Aeronautical Equipment (WTD 61) in Manching, Bavaria, is the German armed forces' flight-test and evaluation centre. It conducts ground and flight tests of aircraft and aeronautical equipment developed by industry for the Bundeswehr and assesses their performance and airworthiness. It belongs to the organisation of the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw).

WTD 61 runs its own test airfield with two runways, a grass strip and instrumented test aircraft, and has its own flight-restricted areas in which unmanned systems can be operated safely. It takes part in all national and international Bundeswehr programmes for manned and unmanned military aviation, including the qualification of armament on rotary-wing and fixed-wing, manned and unmanned aircraft.

Its National Center of Expertise for UAS is the Bundeswehr's central technical point of contact for unmanned aerial systems, focusing on system-level integration and UAS research and technology projects; one such project combined test drones with a drone detection radar for UAV traffic management and drone detection. WTD 61 also hosts the Drone Innovation Hub, which assesses drone ideas from start-ups and companies for military use, including the roughly 700-kilogram Grille casualty-evacuation drone.