In a statement issued on Jan 15, the German Federal Cabinet approved of regulatory proposals that would provide the German armed forces the authority to shoot down drones illegally flying near critical infrastructure sites.
The amendment to the Aviation Security Act, which will now go to Bundestag for ratification, will reflect the fact state security forces do not have the technology required to effectively mitigate drone threats and for the first time will grant the military the authority to intervene.
In the release, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser reflected that the rapid proliferation of hostile drone usage has outpaced police authorities’ ability to effectively defend against them, meaning that:
“It is therefore necessary that we create the authority in the Aviation Security Act that allows the Bundeswehr to intervene in the event of serious dangers – including, as a last resort, to shoot down illegally flying drones.”
The statement follows reports on Monday, Jan 13 that up to 10 drones had been spotted over the Manching air base, location of Airbus’ Eurofighter System Support Center and a military aerodrome.
The legislation permits the Bundeswehr to act only in scenarios whereby it is deemed that a drone that poses an imminent risk to human life or to critical infrastructure site and that armed force is the only viable option to defeat.
The inherent subjectivity of the legislation does potentially raise questions as to how, and when, the Bundeswehr will be able to leverage their new powers. Traditionally, this sort of authority would be applied specifically designated areas within a certain radius, as was the case recently in the US, whereby both operators and law enforcement/ military have clear guidelines on when lethal force can be deployed.
As this is not the case here, it could lead to uncertainty for operators on at what stage responsibility transitions from law enforcement to the military, and when they can deploy lethal force.
These issues demonstrate acutely why legislating against activity that can rapidly transition from perfectly legal to a national security risk poses such a challenge for governments globally.
