A troop of additional US soldiers deployed to Europe in response to tensions between Russia and Ukraine arrives at Wiesbaden, Germany on February 4, 2022. Photo: IC

Germany will get weaponized drones for the first time after years of debate, parliamentary sources told AFP Wednesday, as the EU giant, shaken by the Ukraine crisis, moves to ramp up its defense capabilities.

Germany's armed forces have until now only been allowed to deploy unarmed drones for reconnaissance purposes, leaving other allies to use weaponized unmanned combat aerial vehicles in the field.

Non-weaponized drones were approved by parliament in 2018, but a plan to equip them with arms was put on ice after strong opposition from the Social Democrats, then junior partners in former chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition.

But the devices have come back on the military's shopping list as Chancellor Olaf Scholz, himself a Social Democrat, announced a massive spending spree to equip Germany militarily.

On Wednesday, the parliamentary defense committee approved the purchase of 140 missiles for the Heron TP drones from Israel in a contract worth 152.6 million euros ($165 million), sources said.

The missiles are expected to be delivered within two years, with 60 of them to be used for training purposes while the remaining 80 will be used for "operational deployment."

In a position paper put to the parliamentary committee, the ministry said upgrading the Bundeswehr's equipment was "absolutely necessary because serious state interests of a political nature would be otherwise compromised and this is not acceptable."

Germany is also looking at acquiring an anti-missile shield system dubbed the Iron Dome from Israel.

AFP