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"Heron TP" drone (archive image)
Photo: Abir Sultan / dpa
The SPD wants to put the armament of Bundeswehr drones required by the Union on hold.
The SPD parliamentary group had agreed not to agree to arming the "Heron TP" drone for the time being, but rather to "openly and publicly discuss it openly," said defense policy spokesman Fritz Felgentreu on Twitter.
Previously, the newspapers of the Funke media group had reported that SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich had publicly expressed concerns by party leader Norbert Walter-Borjans to advance the arming of drones.
Felgentreu now wrote that he would step down as spokesman in response to the party leadership's decision.
After a lengthy debate and expert hearings, Felgentreu signaled approval for the armaments project.
Regarding his attitude, he explained: “Either I stand by the public and the armed forces, although everyone knows that I have a different opinion - not very credible.
I'm too stubborn for that.
I say that self-critically, not coquettishly. "
Defense expert Felgentreu had announced his withdrawal from federal politics in the summer.
He did not want to run again for the Bundestag mandate in Berlin's Neukölln district, Felgentreu announced on his website in June.
Mützenich sees a lack of "broad debate"
Mützenich stated in the parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday that there had been no "detailed and broad debate" about the armaments project, which was called for in the coalition agreement.
The FDP and the Greens had already rejected criticism of the lack of a debate as inaccurate and asked the SPD to decide now for or against arming.
According to the report by the Funke newspapers, Mützenich said there was no doubt "that armed and unarmed drones can provide further protection for soldiers on duty."
However, we also know from practice that armed drones can quickly lower the inhibition threshold for military violence.
Mützenich pointed out to the SPD MPs that the massive use of drones on the part of Azerbaijan had decisively decided the conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Many countries would conclude from this that "we also need these weapons".
In the evening, the Ministry of Defense distributed a quote from Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU), who had declared the lack of armament: "We are negligently jeopardizing the lives of soldiers and I want to change that."
As early as 2018, it was decided to rent five "Heron TP" drones from the Israeli manufacturer IAI for the German armed forces.
Maintenance is carried out by Airbus.
In contrast to the previous model »Heron 1«, which is used in Afghanistan and Mali, among others, the »Heron TP« can be armed.
The decision to arm the drones was postponed in 2018 due to differences between the Union and the SPD.
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fek / AFP / dpa
