Germany German parliamentary committee approves kamikaze drones for the military
The Budget Committee of the German parliament has given the green light for the purchase of kamikaze drones for the Bundeswehr.
25.02.2026, 17:36
SDA
The budget politicians in the Bundestag approved plans from the Ministry of Defense, which wants to order weapons systems from the German manufacturers Helsing and Stark Defence initially worth around 540 million euros, as the German Press Agency (dpa) learned in Berlin.
At the same time, the budget committee capped purchases at one billion euros each and imposed reporting obligations on the ministry. To this end, a so-called "measure resolution" was passed. This also requires renewed parliamentary approval as a prerequisite for being able to call up further quantities from the contracts.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius spoke of an "important step" with regard to the kamikaze drones. The Bundeswehr is also learning from the experience of the Ukrainians and benefiting from armaments cooperation. At the same time, he said after a meeting of the defense committee: "As much as it is true that drones dominate the current war that Russia is waging against Ukraine, it is also true that no one knows whether this will still be the case in five years' time."
"Lithuania Brigade" to receive the weapon systems first
The unmanned aerial systems equipped with warheads - technically known as "loitering munitions" - are now central to a large proportion of the strikes in the Ukraine war.
The German military, which had long seemed to be left behind in the use of drones as weapons due to earlier political decisions, wants to open a new chapter on the battlefield with these weapons. The first unit to receive the new weapons systems will be the "Lithuanian Brigade" on the eastern flank of NATO.
According to the ministry's plans, a total of up to 4.4 billion euros will be spent on kamikaze drones in the coming years. Several thousand units will be ordered in the first tranche. In total, a five-digit number of kamikaze drones are to be procured. Armaments group Rheinmetall is in the starting blocks as the third potential supplier.
The new systems have been tested
"Loitering munitions" are drones with a warhead that can circle over a target area for a long time until they are assigned a target via a data link and given the command to attack. They then fly to the target.
The German Armed Forces have already tested these weapon systems and have also given the manufacturers their own specifications, meaning that the German Armed Forces receive different versions to the Ukrainian armed forces. The drones from the two manufacturers are therefore no longer considered combat proven, but must undergo extensive German tests and pass the practical test in the troops.
Army Inspector Christian Freuding wants to set up six units for the deployment of the newly introduced kamikaze drones over the next few years. He wants to have the first medium-range battery ready for deployment by 2027 and five more by 2029, the lieutenant general said in November. One battery is equivalent in size to a company of 60 to 150 soldiers.
There are concerns about an investor
Prior to the meeting of the Budget Committee, the opposition Greens in particular had expressed strong reservations about the US investor Peter Thiel, who is involved in Stark Defense, and demanded clarification about his possible influence. The Greens' defence budget officer Sebastian Schäfer criticized the fact that the government has so far had no information of its own about who owns a company that is now to be awarded a billion-euro contract for drones.
Tech billionaire Peter Thiel is known as a supporter of US President Donald Trump's Maga movement and for his right-wing libertarian views. "I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible," he wrote in 2009.
Thiel was born in Germany in 1967, but grew up in South Africa and the USA. He is co-founder of Paypal - together with Elon Musk, among others - as well as the software company Palantir and was one of the first external Facebook investors. The files published by the US Congress on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein also contain written correspondence between Thiel and Epstein - but this does not indicate any wrongdoing.
Manufacturer rejects criticism from the Greens
Stark Defence explained on request that Thiel had "no influence whatsoever on the operational business". The investor also has no blocking minority. In addition, in the case of foreign investments in German defense companies exceeding ten percent, a mandatory prior review by the Ministry of Economics is required. The same applies if there are special rights below this threshold, for example in the appointment of board members or other atypical opportunities to exert influence. "None of this is the case here," said a spokesperson.
Pistorius addressed the debate on the sidelines of the meetings. If there are concerns "regarding the quality of Thiel's involvement in the company, then we have to look into it", he said. "But it has turned out that this is not the case." Thiel's stake is in the single-digit percentage range without access to or insight into operational matters.
Last year, the possible use of Palantir's analysis software by security authorities in Germany was also the subject of controversy - partly due to concerns about data security. As a start-up, Palantir received money from the US intelligence agency CIA and counts it among its customers. In the two most populous German states, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria, the police are already using Palantir's Gotham surveillance software.
