Concerns have been raised regarding proposals to expand the Bundeswehr’s (German Armed Forces) authority in countering drone activity. Dirk Peglow, chairman of the Federal Association of German Criminal Investigators (BDK), voiced legal reservations about the plans initiated by Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU).
Peglow emphasized that the proposals present “legal and political sensitivities” highlighting the German Basic Law’s clear allocation of responsibility for domestic security to police forces at both the federal and state levels. The Basic Law restricts the deployment of armed forces within Germany to strictly defined circumstances, such as states of internal emergency or natural disasters, a position repeatedly confirmed by the Federal Constitutional Court.
The chairman cautioned that allowing the Defence Ministry to authorize the use of weapons against drones in crisis situations would constitute a precarious constitutional precedent, intruding upon duties traditionally assigned to law enforcement agencies. He warned that such a shift risks blurring the constitutionally protected separation between internal and external security.
Peglow stressed the importance of maintaining the Bundeswehr’s role as solely a force for external security, reinforcing that its involvement in domestic operations should be strictly limited to extreme circumstances – and only when police and security authorities are demonstrably unable to manage the situation. He suggested prioritizing the immediate legal and technical empowerment of police forces to independently detect, disrupt and neutralize drones, arguing that any alternative approach would undermine Germany’s security architecture and leave the nation unprepared for potential crises.
