Germany Debates Legal Amendments to Enable Drone Defense
Germany’s defense committee chair, Thomas Röwekamp, has called for legislative changes to grant the Bundeswehr expanded authority to address drone incursions. “We need to amend the laws so that the only ones able to take care of this — namely the Bundeswehr — are also given the authority to do so,” Röwekamp stated, emphasizing the need for decisive action amid growing security concerns, reports 24brussels.
Currently, the Bundeswehr is permitted to engage in domestic defense only in the event of a major invasion, but legal experts assert that recent drone incursions do not meet this threshold. Present regulations restrict the military’s ability to shoot down drones to areas over military installations.
No evidence has emerged suggesting that the drones detected in German airspace are armed. However, German authorities suspect the Kremlin is employing these unmanned aerial vehicles for espionage, with last year’s unexplained sightings over sensitive sites, including facilities belonging to arms manufacturer Rheinmetall and chemical giant BASF.
While the federal police are authorized to shoot down drones if necessary, they lack the technical capacity to do so. “The federal police, and also almost all state police forces, currently have no capabilities whatsoever for drone defense,” Röwekamp explained.
The military, albeit more adept in these operations, remains constrained by Germany’s historical legacy regarding military engagement. Public law professor Kathrin Groh from the University of the Bundeswehr Munich noted that the military was frequently deployed throughout Imperial Germany and the Weimar Republic, often against political opponents. “A repeat of such measures had to be avoided in the 1949 constitution, which is why we have these strict rules for the Bundeswehr today,” Groh remarked.
