The Flawed German Debate on Armed Drone Acquisition: “What Does This Have to Do with Our Procurement Plans, for God’s Sake?”

Image: Flickr/UK Ministry of Defense

 

In Germany, defence and military policy is rarely a subject of great interest to the general public. The pacifist mainstream view and the “friendly disinterest” in the Bundeswehr means that military matters are seldom discussed in detail by the general media.

There is one military topic, however, which has been discussed repeatedly and heatedly over the last few years: whether the German Bundeswehr should procure armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly called ‘drones’.

The Bundeswehr has been using drones – the unarmed types – since the 1970s and, until recently, had five different UAV models in use in Afghanistan. German firms produce smaller military surveillance UAVs and sell them to both the Bundeswehr as well as abroad. Until recently, however, the general public did not show a particular interest in these aircraft.

IRGC to Use RQ-170 for Bombing Missions

Mon May 12, 2014 12:52     EXCLUSIVE

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iranian version of the RQ-170 which has been manufactured through the reverse engineering of the US drone which was tracked and hunted down in Iran late in 2011, has been equipped by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) with bombing capability to attack the US warships in any possible battle.

The new capability was revealed during Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei‘s Sunday visit to an exhibition of the latest achievements of the IRGC Aerospace Force. The Supreme Leader had a two-hour tour of the IRGC’s Aerospace Exhibition where state-of-the-art equipment and hardware were showcased.

IRGC experts said the Iran-made RQ-170, similar to its original model, will be able to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance missions, but it has been equipped with the bombing capability as well to be able to carry out a wider range of missions.

Draft QDR: DoD Alters Force Planning Construct

Image via Wikipedia

By JOHN T. BENNETT

Published: 27 Jan 2010

The Pentagon’s 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) will implement a new construct under which defense officials make force structure decisions.

Out is the so-called “3-ring” 2006 model, which included a requirement to fight two major wars at the same time and provide “surge capability” for things like disaster-response missions, as well as a need to be capable of doing other missions. It stated that one of the major wars would be a protracted, irregular conflict.

In is a new construct that also includes a clear requirement for two simultaneous major wars, but adds all U.S. forces must be prepared for a much wider set of threats and missions, according to a draft version of the QDR.