Germany Buys Combat Drones

Germany’s parliamentary Budget Committee approved major orders of combat drones from defense start-ups Helsing and stark Defense yesterday. The contracts are initially valued at about $630 million but can, with parliamentary approval, expand into the billions. This is less than the Defense Ministry hoped for, but it allows it to get started and test the technology.

Drones from both Helsing and stark Defense have been operating in Ukraine, giving the firms valuable battlefield experience. However, both companies have been criticized for underperforming.

• Citing internal Defense Ministry information, Politico reported on January 29 that Helsing drones have only a 1 in 3 chance of successfully reaching their target in Ukraine.
• The success rate was much higher in a Bundeswehr test at the end of last year.
• In the same test, stark reportedly showed major deficiencies.

Legislators expressed concern over U.S. billionaire investor Peter Thiel’s involvement in stark Defense. Thiel has previously supported U.S. President Donald Trump.

There is also some skepticism about the future of AI drone warfare. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said:

As true as it is that drones dominate the current war Russia is waging against Ukraine, it is also true that no one knows whether this will still be the case in five years’ time.

Despite concerns, Germany is ordering thousands of drones designed to hover over a target, release explosives, and crash into it once an operator gives the go-ahead.

The first units will be delivered to the Bundeswehr brigade in Lithuania and will be operational by 2027, according to Bundeswehr Inspector General Carsten Breuer.

Germany’s first permanent military base in Lithuania has highlighted the end of Germany’s military reluctance. Now its investments in drone warfare, even though currently moderate, are a sign that it is preparing for the war of the future.

In “Germany Is Arming for World War III,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry warned: “Drones have already changed warfare in recent years. But drone swarms guided by AI are likely to revolutionize warfare in a monumental way.”