{"id":44744,"date":"2018-04-05T01:36:27","date_gmt":"2018-04-05T01:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/04\/05\/lawmakers-could-soon-approve-germanys-first-armed-drone\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:30:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:30:36","slug":"lawmakers-could-soon-approve-germanys-first-armed-drone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2018\/04\/05\/lawmakers-could-soon-approve-germanys-first-armed-drone\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers could soon approve Germany\u2019s first armed drone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">COLOGNE, Germany \u2014 Lawmakers in Berlin are due soon to consider once again the deployment of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2018\/03\/22\/these-three-german-drones-are-worth-watching\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">armed drones for the Bundeswehr<\/a>, a first for a country that has traditionally sought to avoid the spotlight of global military prowess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defense ministry led by Ursula von der Leyen is expected within days or weeks to forward a \u20ac25 million (U.S. $30.7 million) placeholder petition to the defense and appropriations committees for a roughly \u20ac1 billion program to lease a handful of Heron-TP drones from Israel. The aircraft would be stationed in Israel and managed by Airbus, initially supporting deployed German forces with surveillance capabilities and, later, with precision strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The upcoming debate about the Israeli drone will pick up where it left off last summer when the Social Democratic Party \u2014 which then positioned itself in staunch opposition to the Christian Democratic Union of chancellor Angela Merkel \u2014 in a surprise move blocked what many considered to be a bipartisan deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2018\/02\/07\/political-deal-may-mean-german-defense-boost-but-puts-armed-drones-acquisition-on-hold\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"190\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-915350686.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Political deal rethinks German defense, puts armed drones buy on hold<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Insiders say party negotiators agreed on language that would keep Germany in line with a pledge by NATO members to annually allocate 2 percent GDP by 2024.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Depending on who is asked, to blame was either the lack of a public debate about the ethics of armed drones in warfare or a lack of Fingerspitzengef\u00fchl in the defense ministry\u2019s procedural timing on a sensitive topic. For many here, that topic raises images of American drones causing carnage at wedding celebrations in the greater Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fast forward to today and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2017\/11\/09\/us-nukes-on-german-soil-merkels-would-be-government-sizes-up-defense-priorities\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">SPD is back in a coalition government,<\/a> as the party\u2019s resistance appears to have lost its bite. With the Bundeswehr deployed in hotspots around the world, its leaders have argued that the lack of unmanned strike capabilities could leave infantry forces needlessly exposed during combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Party operatives now say that an affirmative vote in the Bundestag is all but assured, barring any surprises from the defense ministry. Plus, pro-Heron advocates within the government have elevated the argument of Germany\u2019s friendship with Israel to something of a guiding principle in the deliberations, which carries some weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The government\u2019s upcoming petition to parliament is expected to cover only the drone itself and its sensors, not the weapons. That debate will be for another time when, as advocates would have it, the drones are already in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2018\/03\/30\/yes-switzerland-would-enjoy-a-jet-that-can-land-in-its-secret-base\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-153921972.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Yes, Switzerland would enjoy a jet that can land in its secret base<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Somewhere in Switzerland inside a mountain, there is a secret air base in which a Swiss Air Force pilot fires up the engines of an F\/A-18 Hornet.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The relevant SPD lawmakers, as they were before the public Bundestag blow-up last summer, are expected to also approve the armaments if enough emphasis is placed on their sole use toward protecting deployed German forces and if the project is still within budget, according to insiders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense ministry officials recently reported that last summer\u2019s delay had caused the cost of an industry contract for the German Heron TP to climb to \u20ac720 million (U.S. $886 million) in addition to \u20ac177 million (U.S. $218 million) for a support agreement with the government of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ulrike Franke, a drone expert with the European Council on Foreign Relations, expects the Heron TP to be approved when it comes up for committee consideration in the weeks ahead. A debate within German society about those weapons, as the SPD had demanded last year, has sufficiently played out, Franke argued in an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou could argue this forever, but the discussion has run its course,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rather than triggering another fundamental conversation about drone ethics, the German Heron TP program\u2019s advancement will be tied to the German government\u2019s general commitment to increase defense spending in the coming years, Franke predicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense officials are eager to move forward quickly. The agreed cost calculations with industry come with an expiration date of May 31, which means the matter should be decided before the Bundestag recess on May 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>German lawmakers will once again vote on leasing weapons-capable drones from Israel after tabling the decision in a surprise move last summer. This time around, all signs point toward approval, insiders say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":82968,"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":27,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,160,46,11,36,27],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3425],"class_list":["post-44744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-newsletters","category-unmanned"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"B6LOJLSS5RDLRGAH6XTTB3QP4Q","arc_canonical_url":"\/unmanned\/2018\/04\/05\/lawmakers-could-soon-approve-germanys-first-armed-drone\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lawmakers could soon approve Germany\u2019s first armed drone - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"German lawmakers will once again vote on leasing weapons-capable drones from Israel after tabling the decision in a surprise move last summer. This time around, all signs point toward approval, insiders say.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lawmakers could soon approve Germany\u2019s first armed drone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"German lawmakers will once again vote on leasing weapons-capable drones from Israel after tabling the decision in a surprise move last summer. This time around, all signs point toward approval, insiders say.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2018\/04\/05\/lawmakers-could-soon-approve-germanys-first-armed-drone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-05T01:36:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T23:30:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sebastian Sprenger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sebastian Sprenger\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/05\\\/lawmakers-could-soon-approve-germanys-first-armed-drone\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/05\\\/lawmakers-could-soon-approve-germanys-first-armed-drone\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Lawmakers could soon approve Germany\u2019s first armed drone\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2018-04-05T01:36:27+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T23:30:36+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/05\\\/lawmakers-could-soon-approve-germanys-first-armed-drone\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 598,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/05\\\/lawmakers-could-soon-approve-germanys-first-armed-drone\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/israeli-heron-tp.jpg_dbf0b8.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Air Warfare\",\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Europe\",\n\t                \"Global\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Unmanned\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/05\\\/lawmakers-could-soon-approve-germanys-first-armed-drone\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/05\\\/lawmakers-could-soon-approve-germanys-first-armed-drone\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/05\\\/lawmakers-could-soon-approve-germanys-first-armed-drone\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Lawmakers could soon approve Germany\u2019s first armed drone - 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