The German government wants to change the law to allow the army to shoot down suspicious drones. The relevant proposal was approved on Wednesday, the Ministry of the Interior announced. The move comes after repeated reports of illegal drone flights over critical infrastructure. TASR informs about it according to the reports of the AFP and Reuters agencies. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that since the beginning of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s “aggressive war against Ukraine, we see that they use drones more and more often, which presents an increasing challenge for the police and their current technology“.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the security forces “noted that there are increasing reports of uncooperative drone sightings over critical infrastructure and military assets in Germany”. The ministry added that “espionage or sabotage is regularly considered” as a possible reason. Based on current regulations, soldiers can assist the police in a forced change of direction or landing of a drone, threaten to shoot him down or fire warning shots.
The bill to amend the law allows the military to shoot down a drone if it is a device “used against human life or against a critical object and the use of armed force is the only means of averting this present danger”, the ministry said. German police said Monday they are investigating suspected Russian espionage after drones were spotted over military bases in Bavaria. A few of them were also seen in the industrial zone near the North Sea and near the American air base Ramstein.
The government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to approve the amendment in the Bundestag even before the early parliamentary elections, which will take place on February 23. However, it is not clear whether the minority coalition will get enough votes for this, writes Reuters.
