Two committees of the Bundestag - on defense and on budget issues - voted on Wednesday, June 13, for equipping the Bundeswehr with unmanned aerial vehicles Heron TP. After disputes that lasted for several years in Germany, it became possible to take unmanned aerial vehicles in leasing from the Israeli concern Israel Aerospace. Representatives of the Bundeswehr for several years now have to equip the army with drones to improve the protection of German soldiers who are part of international military missions. The head of the Ministry of Defense, Ursula von der Lien, raised the issue of this in 2016.

The coalition agreement signed by the leadership of the SPD, CDU and CSU in forming the new government of Germany in 2017, states that the leasing of Israeli drones is a temporary solution to the problem until, within the framework of European cooperation in the field of defense and security, drones. However, the intention to create European drones is said for a long time, but the realization of these undertakings will require many more years.

The model developed by Germany together with France and Italy can enter production no earlier than 2025. In 2013, the project for the creation of Euro Hawk - the European version of the US drone Global Hawk. Euro Hawk has not received a permit for flights over the territory of Europe.

And attempts to put it into operation came across the reluctance of Northropp Grumann to provide complete information about the many nodes of the electronic equipment of the machine. The reason for the cancellation of the contract was the high cost of upgrading the Euro Hawk UAV for operation in the airspace of Europe.

Unmanned aerial vehicles of different classes in the arsenal of the Bundeswehr are long. There are about 600 of them. But all are used only for reconnaissance purposes and can not be equipped with missiles. The largest of them - Heron1, which the Bundeswehr also leases from Israel since 2009. But they practically developed their resource.

Source: DW.