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Germany Acquires 140 Israeli-Made Armed Drones
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by i24 News and Algemeiner Staff
An assembly line for UAVs is seen at the offices of state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), next to Ben-Gurion International Airport, near Or Yehuda, Israel, Feb. 27, 2017. Photo: Rruters / Baz Ratner
i24 News – The Defense Committee of the Bundestag on Wednesday gave the green light to the purchase of Israeli-made armed drones, as Germany ramps up its military spending following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The committee approved the purchase of 140 armed drones of the Israeli Heron TP model, a parliamentary source said.
The Ministry of Defense plans to use 60 of them for training and the other 80 for “operational use,” according to the project adopted by the commission.
The total amount of the order is $166 million. The drones should be delivered within two years.
The drones will be used in particular to “contribute to the protection of soldiers on mission abroad,” according to the ministry.
Germany had already decided in 2018 to acquire Heron TP drones. But the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Olaf Scholz, then a member of Angela Merkel’s coalition, was opposed to their armament, and the acquisition project was ultimately not completed.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Chancellor Scholz has announced that he wants to release $109 billion to modernize Germany’s national army, and to spend each year from now on at least 2 percent of the national GDP on defense.
Germany is considering in particular the acquisition of an Israeli missile protection system, of the “Iron Dome” type.
