The news magazine Spiegel reported on Tuesday that a
German diplomatic visit to Washington was bearing military fruit.
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| Reaper Drone |
According to a report on Spiegel's online portal,
the US was ready to approve an official German request for three armed MQ-9
Reaper drone aircraft (formerly known as the "Predator B") and four
ground control stations, to be filed in May this year. Spiegel cited a
representative of the German Defense Ministry. According to the source, the US
Congress approved the move.
Germany already has unmanned aircraft, the
nonweaponized Heron 1 drone, in service over Afghanistan. They are on loan
until October 2014. The Bundeswehr has no unmanned aircraft with firepower.
Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere and Interior
Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, both members of Chancellor Merkel's Christian
Democrat alliance, conclude a joint visit to Washington on Tuesday.
De Maiziere was set to meet his US counterpart,
Chuck Hagel, on Tuesday. Germany filed a preliminary request for the delivery
of some form of drone aircraft early in 2012. The aircraft cost roughly $17
million (13 million euros) per unit. Germany was also reportedly considering
the purchase of the Israeli-built Heron TP drone.
The issue of drone purchases prompted sometimes
contentious debate in German parliament. Owing to its 20th-century history,
Germany retains a strictly nonviolent, defense-only military mandate.
Opposition politicians, and some within the government's ranks, have questioned
whether unmanned aircraft armed with rockets are compatible with this.
A Forsa survey released earlier in April suggested
that only 12 percent of Germans supported the use of armed drones in all
circumstances. A majority of 59 percent approved the idea, however, provided
that the aircraft were only used to ward off clear and present danger.
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