Germany nears deal to buy its first weaponized drone

BERLIN — Germany is close to finalizing a deal that will see the country buy its first weapons-capable drone aircraft — an Israeli designed model — from European aerospace giant Airbus, according to a government response to lawmakers.

The deal, worth more than $1.1 billion including training and maintenance costs, has been politically contentious because of fears that having combat drones might make Germany more likely to participate in offensive military action abroad.

“At the moment the aim is for Parliament to consider (the deal) and for the subsequent signing of the contract to occur soon, before the current binding offer expires,” Germany’s defense ministry said in a written response to questions from the opposition Left party. The terms of the offer are binding until May 31, meaning Parliament would have to approve the agreement in the coming weeks.

The government’s response, dated April 12 and obtained by The Associated Press late Friday, adds that the agreement foresees the deployment of drones to a theater of operations by about mid-2020.

“We now have confirmation that Parliament is expected to sign off on the purchase of weapons-capable drones, likely in mid May,” Left party lawmaker Andrej Hunko said Saturday.

“It’s the starting point for Germany to get its own combat drones,” he said. “We oppose this because combat drones loosen the constraints on warfare, they lower the threshold for military operations and they have nothing to do with national defense.”