FRANKFURT: Earlier this week, a German naval warship assigned to guard commercial ships in the Red Sea “almost shot down” an American drone by accident.
Without identifying the nation, the German Defense Ministry verified media reports that an allied drone incident happened on Monday.
During a visit to the German town of Oberviechtach, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated that attempts to identify an unidentified drone “were unsuccessful” and that the target was “not hit” before the Hesse frigate opened fire.
He added that it eventually revealed out that the drone was a “reconnaissance drone.”
Der Spiegel weekly claims that although the ship fired two missiles at the drone, “a technical defect” caused both of them to crash into the sea.
The weekly claimed the drone that was almost brought down was a US Reaper, although it did not provide any references.
Spiegel continued, saying that it might have been acting in the area “as part of an American anti-terror mission” unrelated to the Red Sea expedition.
It is “common information that American drones for combat are used in areas that have absolutely nothing to do with the mission in the Red Sea,” according to the Frankfurter Allgem-eine daily. According to the German Ministry of Defense, the ship didn’t attack until after none of its partners reported seeing a drone in the region.
Spiegel reported that military officials thought the friendly fire incident demonstrated the necessity for “improved” coordination between partners engaged in different missions in the vicinity of Yemen.
As part of an EU operation to protect shipping in the Red Sea from Houthi strikes in Yemen, the Hesse landed in the area over the weekend.
