Germany bans Chinese drones and cars from military bases
The gist
Germany's armed forces banned Chinese-made drones and cars from bases, replacing them with European products.
The order follows a counterintelligence review and widens a Western push against Chinese hardware.
How it unfolded
- 2023Lieutenant General Martin Schelleis, then Inspector of the Bundeswehr Joint Support Service, issued a written order banning Chinese drones over fears confidential information could leak to China.
- 2024German military leadership approved a "white list" of commercial drones authorized for procurement, including several DJI models, letting local commanders buy off-the-shelf drones with little paperwork.
- Nov 10, 2026Der Spiegel reported the Bundeswehr ban on Chinese drones and restrictions on Chinese cars.
Key terms
- Bundeswehr
- The armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany, comprising military and civil parts.
- counterintelligence
- Activities aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposing intelligence service, including preventing espionage and sabotage.
- MAD
- Germany's military counterintelligence service, one of its three federal intelligence agencies.
Source: Wikipedia