Thomas de Maiziere has said he thinks Germany should use unmanned drones, similar to the ones commonly employed by the US over Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere told the Saturday edition of the Die Welt newspaper that he would like to see unmanned drones within the German military’s ranks, saying he saw no contradiction between the nature of the planes and Germany’s non-aggressive military code.
“In essence, a drone is quite simply a plane without a pilot,” de Maiziere told the paper. “Planes are allowed to carry weapons. So why shouldn’t we allow unmanned planes to do so?”
De Maiziere likened the idea to torpedoes or rockets that automatically track their targets without direct human involvement, also pointing to the German Marines’ use of automated mine detection equipment.
