{"id":40802,"date":"2018-05-31T18:10:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T18:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/31\/german-lawmakers-cite-nsa-and-facebook-scandals-in-rejecting-us-drone-tech\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:10:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:10:26","slug":"german-lawmakers-cite-nsa-and-facebook-scandals-in-rejecting-us-drone-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/2018\/05\/31\/german-lawmakers-cite-nsa-and-facebook-scandals-in-rejecting-us-drone-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"German lawmakers cite NSA and Facebook scandals in rejecting US drone tech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

COLOGNE, Germany \u2015 In an attempt to rally fellow Social Democrats behind a key vote on Israel-supplied drones, a group of lawmakers this week argued that U.S. vendors were rightfully excluded from the program because of past scandals involving spying by the National Security Agency and Facebook data breaches<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three members, who belong to the SPD contingent in the Bundestag\u2019s Defence Committee, made the connection in a May 28 letter to Social Democrats in parliament. The missive came just as the government had requested approval for a plan to lease five weapons-capable Heron TP drones from Israel at a cost of roughly $1 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the SPD\u2019s support for the Heron TP plan, passage in the Bundestag in the next few weeks is likely, though officials said surprises remain possible given the topic\u2019s thorniness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFollowing the experiences with American high-tech in view of the NSA scandal, the \u2018black boxes\u2019 of the Euro Hawk<\/a> and the scandals surrounding Facebook, we are disinclined to make ourselves dependent on U.S. technology when it comes to reconnaissance capabilities,\u201d wrote Rolf M\u00fctzenich, Fritz Felgentreu and Karl-Heinz Brunner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
An Israeli Heron TP surveillance drone, known as the IAI Eitan, flies during a presentation to the media at the Tel Nof Air Force base, south of Tel Aviv, on February 21, 2010. (AFP \/Jonathan Nackstrand)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The paragraph appears to refer to revelations some years ago of the NSA\u2019s spying on leaders of U.S. allies and Facebook\u2019s large-scale loss of user data. The term \u201cblack boxes\u201d refers to the defunct Euro Hawk spy drone, whose encryption and data links would have remained in U.S. hands and out Germany\u2019s control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

General Atomics, which had hoped to sell its Sky Guardian drone, a derivative of the Predator, was excluded from the competition on the grounds that the company would be unable to meet the Bundeswehr\u2019s performance specifications. The company has unsuccessfully appealed the decision, arguing it can deliver at a lower cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\t