{"id":29707,"date":"2020-12-23T17:03:02","date_gmt":"2020-12-23T17:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2020\/12\/23\/nato-chief-wades-into-fiery-german-debate-on-armed-drones\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:42:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:42:21","slug":"nato-chief-wades-into-fiery-german-debate-on-armed-drones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2020\/12\/23\/nato-chief-wades-into-fiery-german-debate-on-armed-drones\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO chief wades into fiery German debate on armed drones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">COLOGNE, Germany \u2013 NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he supports the use of armed drones to protect soldiers\u2019 lives, wading into a fierce debate in Germany about buying such technology for future operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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. \u201cThese drones can support forces on the ground and reduce the number of pilots we send in harm\u2019s way,\u201d he was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His comments come as the question of arming drones has caused a major kerfuffle between the CDU and SPD parties, which form Germany\u2019s coalition government. Specifically, the disagreement is about whether the Bundeswehr should be allowed to lease Israeli-made Heron TP drones armed with missiles. More broadly, though, the debate is about different visions for Germany as a participant in the military fabric of the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this month, the SPD leadership decided to reject the acquisition of armed drones in principle, arguing that a broad debate here on ethical aspects of their use had not yet taken place, as prescribed in the government\u2019s coalition agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The party\u2019s surprise move came after defense department officials had formally studied the issue for the better part of the year as part of a public campaign, holding hearings with experts of various backgrounds and sending a final report to lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The SPD parliamentary spokesman on defense matters, Fritz Felgentreu, who backs the use weaponized drones under limited conditions, resigned his job in protest, arguing the party leadership\u2019s claim of a lackluster drone debate was dishonest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following Stoltenberg\u2019s remarks to DPA on Wednesday, Felgentreu joked on Twitter that the secretary-general would make a \u201csmart Social Democrat,\u201d a reference to his own party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stoltenberg\u2019s stance is unlikely to sway any opinions here, as those rejecting armed drones for the Bundeswehr are unlikely to be glowing NATO supporters to begin with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It remains to be seen how Germany\u2019s drone debate of seven-plus years evolves before it reaches the relevant decision-making stage for the French-German <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2020\/12\/09\/airbus-prepares-for-eurodrone-contract-signing-in-early-2021\/\">Eurodrone<\/a>. One of the unmanned aircraft\u2019s roles, besides spying and surveillance, is firing weapons in combat under certain conditions. Similarly, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2020\/12\/09\/despite-progress-industry-faces-very-tough-roadmap-to-field-fcas-by-2040\/\">Future Combat Air System<\/a>, a French-German-Spanish project, is slated to include a series of so-called \u201cremote carriers,\u201d some of which will have kinetic effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. government\u2019s counterterrorism drone wars since the Bush administration, often executed somewhere in the gray zone between military and paramilitary operations, still loom large in the collective conscience of Germany\u2019s antiwar left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Proponents of armed drones for the Bundeswehr have accused the SPD skeptics of mistrusting the government, and their own parliament, with a more responsible use of those weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Airbus Defence and Space CEO Dirk Hoke, whose company manages the Heron TP lease and co-leads the Eurodrone and FCAS programs, told reporters earlier this month that he was banking on \u201ca shift\u201d in German public opinion to support the idea of armed drones in the end. \u201cOur population realizes that we see higher volatility, more crises, and that the biggest economy in Europe cannot stay from the accountability and responsibility coming with that role,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stoltenberg&#8217;s comments come as the question of arming drones has caused a major kerfuffle between the CDU and SPD parties, which form Germany\u2019s coalition government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":36297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":21,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,29,32,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3298],"class_list":["post-29707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters","category-unmanned"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2DHFHP4Q3ZEPPHYGB5TKLPGARM","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2020\/12\/23\/nato-chief-wades-into-fiery-german-debate-on-armed-drones\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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