German armed forces to phase out Chinese drones in push for tech independence (Representative image)
The Defence Ministry said these purchases would still require a risk assessment to ensure that no “security-relevant information” is exposed. Explaining the move, the ministry said it wanted to reduce dependence on foreign technology and strengthen Germany’s ability to meet its own defence requirements. “In order to strengthen the Bundeswehr’s self-sufficiency and technological sovereignty”, the military will no longer use Chinese drone models, the ministry said in an emailed statement.
The decision applies to commercial drones that commanders in the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, are allowed to purchase for training and certain military exercises. These will instead be replaced by German-made or other European alternatives. German news magazine Der Spiegel was the first to report the decision. The defence ministry did not disclose how many Chinese-made drones are currently being used by the Bundeswehr. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
Germany will phase out Chinese-made drones used by its armed forces for training and replace them with equipment manufactured in Germany or elsewhere in Europe, the government said on Wednesday.