NATO chief wades into fiery German debate on armed drones December 23, 2020 NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrives for the Informal Meeting of EU Defence Ministers in Zagreb on March 4, 2020. (Photo by Damir Sencar/AFP via Getty Images) COLOGNE, Germany – NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he supports the use of armed drones to protect soldiers’ lives, wading into a fierce debate in Germany about buying such technology for future operations. Stoltenberg told the German press agency DPA that the alliance would use weaponized unmanned aircraft in accordance with international law and in support of deployed troops. “These drones can support forces on the ground and reduce the number of pilots we send in harm’s way,” he was quoted as saying.
Germany May Receive Israeli Heron-TP UAVs without Weapons Our Bureau 2252
IAI Heron TP UAV for Germany
The five advanced Heron-TP unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that Germany is leasing from Israel may come unarmed.
On December 15, the Social Democratic Party of Germany opposed buying weapons for the drones. A vote in the German parliament regarding the decision to buy weapons has been postponed with no new date set.
“The SDP has decided to oppose arming Bundeswehr’s Heron-TP UAVs for the time being,” the party’s defense policy spokesman Fritz Felgentreu, considered one of the biggest supporters of the move to arm the UAVs, tweeted the same night.
Berlin Islamist terror attack: A deadly story of failure
Anis Amri committed the worst Islamist attack in Germany to date when he drove into the Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz. Four years later many questions are unanswered. And many fear such an event could be repeated.
The attack on the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz killed 11 and injured 60
Eleven people died and 60 were seriously injured when the Islamist Anis Amri drove a stolen truck into a Christmas market in central Berlin on December 19, 2016.
The 24-year-old Tunisian national whose application for asylum had been rejected had hijacked the semi-trailer truck, killing Polish driver Lukasz Robert Urban.
Israeli drones leased to Germany to remain unarmed
Due to opposition from the SDP on moral grounds, Israel Aerospace s Heron-TP UAVs will not be armed with missiles, for the time being.
The German army will not arm the advanced Heron-TP drones (unmanned aerial vehicles - UAVs) that it is leasing from Israel with missiles due to opposition from ruling coalition partner the Social Democratic Party (SPD). A vote in the German parliament on whether to arm the Israeli-made UAVs has been postponed with no new date set because of the SDP s opposition. The SDP opposes arming the drones with missiles for moral reasons because it distances the battlefield from fighters and may cause, a light hand on the trigger.