Procurement of what news media call "fighter drones" to protect the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) remains controversial, but German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen has finally disclosed her plans: The German military should receive drones, she said, but these can only be deployed with parliamentary approval.
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| German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen on 2 July 2014 set out her position regarding the controversial issue of equipping the Bundeswehr with UAS, and whether or not the latter should be armed. |
German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday (2 July 2014) set out her position regarding the controversial issue of equipping the Bundeswehr with Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), and whether or not the latter should be armed. "The German military should receive drones," she said, but they can only be deployed with the approval of the German parliament. Von der Leyen gave an interview to the Süddeutsche Zeitung where she said that if German troops were to be sent on a combat mission, the parliament could decide on whether or not to arm the UAS. With the mandate, the Bundestag has the opportunity "to make case-by-case decisions and also choose whether or not to arm the drone to protect deployed troops," the politician from Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) said.
The defence minister also spoke in favour of developing "a European armed drone." She indicated that now is the time to search for partners in the project, which is expected to take at least a decade. "Europe needs the capabilities of a reconnaissance drone so it is not permanently dependent on others," von der Leyen emphasised.
"Technology for a reconnaissance drone, is not only beneficial for Europe from a military point of view but more importantly for civilian purposes," said von der Leyen.
Last December, the EU Summit was the starting signal in the preparation of a European drone programme up to 2015. Dassault, EADS (now Airbus Defence & Space), and Finmeccanica have been calling for European Drone Programmes for some time now. "Europe has lost at least 10 years," in this sector, Airbus boss Tom Enders explained late last year. "The longer it takes, the more dominant the Americans and the Israelis will be." To bridge the gap until the European drone is developed, the "leasing solution" has proven its effectiveness, said defence minister von der Leyen. "It comes with the advantage that domestically it does not require its own approval."
In this way the Bundeswehr can be more flexible in its reaction to future deployments, she said, but at the moment no mission seems to require such unmanned aircraft. Many politicians from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) have also said that there is currently no demand for a deployment of armed drones by the Bundeswehr.
"Drone procurement programme for the Bundeswehr" was the title of a question and answer session in the Bundestag on Wednesday (2 July). The event, where von der Leyen spoke, was initiated by the Left Party (Die Linke) faction.
It became clear just how controversial the procurement of so-called fighter drones for the Bundeswehr was during a hearing of the defence committee on Monday (30 June 2014). The Committee invited nine experts to consult on international and constitutional law, security policy and ethical aspects related to the deployment of "unmanned aircraft that could have further-reaching combat capabilities in addition to reconnaissance." Two international law experts, Wolff Heintschel von Heinegg from the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder) and Thilo Marauhn from the Justus Liebig University in Gießen, explained that in principle there are no concerns regarding international law a deployment of combat drones. Under international humanitarian law, deployment of drones is not assessed any differently from the deployment of a manned combat aircraft, they said. Force Commander in the Operations Command of the Bundeswehr Hans-Werner Fritz, Chairman of the Bundeswehr alliance André Wüstner, and Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces Hellmut Königshaus were all in agreement over the procurement of armed drones. All three argued that it is a duty of the state to deploy such drones to protect the soldiers. If the parliament sends combat forces in a foreign deployment, it must ensure that soldiers be equipped and protected as best as possible, they said. This includes not only capabilities for reconnaissance against enemies, the three argued, but also for combat with the enemy ensuring the lowest danger to soldiers themselves.
Von der Leyen followed the session for several hours: "The seriousness of the debate also shows how difficult the issues are," said the CDU politician. "But one thing is clear: It is not about autonomous killer drones, but about protecting Bundeswehr soldiers in action." Von der Leyen said the military is right to expect answers from politicians on this issue.