Germany will not build up drone stockpiles for war with Russia – Pistorius
Drone Industry
Germany will not build up stockpiles of drones as it prepares for a possible war with the Russian Federation, despite the fact that the war in Ukraine has demonstrated the importance of this type of weaponry.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said this in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Deutsche Welle reports.
He pointed out that drones quickly become obsolete and that innovation cycles in drone development are becoming ever shorter.
"Technologies are changing radically within two or three months, especially in the field of protection against drones. That is why it is pointless today to stockpile drones worth billions of euros that will be obsolete the day after tomorrow," Pistorius said.
According to the minister, Germany instead is focusing on developing new types of weapons and preparing its defence industry for a possible war.
"Together with the companies, we will ensure that in the event of war these state-of-the-art types of weapons can be produced quickly and in large quantities," he explained.
In the German defence minister’s view, armoured vehicles will continue to play a decisive role in the future alongside drones.
"Russia is producing more Shaheds and similar drones than it is using. The war in Ukraine shows the enormous importance of drones in modern warfare. But heavy equipment will also continue to play a decisive role. Military experts say that the war of the future will be combined arms in nature: involving howitzers, tanks, aircraft, as well as cyberspace and, of course, unmanned systems," Boris Pistorius said.
If there is no will to invest in drones, war will not be long in coming
At the Ukrainian company DEVIRO, which has been developing, designing and manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles and related software since 2014 and is also one of the world’s largest drone manufacturers by sales, they agree with Pistorius on only one point: drones really should not be produced just to sit in storage.
"Reconnaissance drones do not change that much and can be upgraded. In addition, there must be a drone platform for continuous training, testing and upgrades. And you can also conduct military exercises with drone against drone. There is no war in Germany – that is good, and we can be glad about that. But if Germany has no desire to work on drones, Russia will quickly change that," representatives of the company told Censor.NET as part of the Drone Industry project.
Germany debates balance between drones and armoured vehicles
In early November, Gundbert Scherf, co-founder of the German drone manufacturing startup Helsing, criticised the lack of drones in Western weapons supplies to Ukraine, DW writes.
"Between 80% and 90% of losses on both sides are caused by drones," the executive stressed.
He called for a reassessment of priorities, since budgets for armoured vehicles are still dozens of times larger than those for UAVs.
"This does not reflect either Ukraine’s experience or how events will develop in the coming years," Scherf believes.
His remarks stand in sharp contrast to the statements of the head of Rheinmetall, a manufacturer of munitions and armoured vehicles. In an interview with Handelsblatt in October, Armin Papperger said he does not believe drones will completely replace tanks and infantry fighting vehicles on the battlefield. According to him, the fighting in Ukraine shows that "wars are still being waged with armoured vehicles and missiles" and "that will not change in the future".
"Many people are now saying that only drones will be used in future wars. I believe that is nonsense," Papperger said.
It should be recalled that similar views were once expressed about tanks. However, it was tanks that helped turn the tide of the First World War when it had taken on a positional character.
