A drone is a drone is a drone
Published: 30 September 2020 Author: Marco Meyer
On 8 September 2020, the parliamentary group “The Left” in Germany’s Federal Parliament submitted a motion that “Parliament reject equipping the Federal Armed Forces with armed drones (RPAS [Remotely Piloted Aircraft] / UAV [Unmanned Aerial Vehicles]) in the form of both the procurement of armed drones and the procurement of ammunition for drones already used by the Federal Armed Forces.” In a related development, on 16 September 2020, the Federal Parliament’s Defence Committee scheduled a public expert hearing on, inter alia, the assessment of the potential arming of remotely piloted UAVs. These events came just about two and a half months after the Federal Ministry of Defence presented to the Federal Parliament a “Report on the Debate on the Possible Procurement of Armed Drones for the Federal Armed Forces” (the Report). The aim of the Report was to present “the results of the series of events organized by the Federal Ministry of Defence on the issue of the procurement of armed drones (Unmanned Aircraft Systems, UAS), in the course of which a broad and inclusive debate on international law, constitutional, ethical and political aspects took place.” (more…)