German court ruling on US drone strike signals shift in Berlin's defence strategy

Last week saw the conclusion of a legal case that has loomed large in Germany’s drone debate for over a decade. But rather than ending dramatically, it fizzled out: On July 15, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by two Yemeni nationals over a 2012 US drone strike that killed their relatives. Though the strike occurred in Yemen, the plaintiffs took legal action against the German government, citing Ramstein Air Base—a US facility in southwest Germany—as the critical link in the drone’s operational chain.

At first glance, suing Germany for a US strike might seem like a stretch, but deeper examination suggests otherwise. An article published on World Politics Review breaks down why Ramstein is indispensable to the US drone infrastructure.

American drone pilots typically operate from domestic bases like Creech Air Force Base near Las Vegas. But to control drones across the Middle East, command signals must cross the Atlantic via fiber optic cables to Germany, then uplink to satellites before reaching the drones. Ramstein—close to Landstuhl, the largest US military hospital outside the US—is a reminder that US bases in Europe support global, not just continental, missions.

The Yemeni plaintiffs, whose prior case against the US was rejected in 2017, argued Germany had an obligation to prevent drone strikes using infrastructure on its soil. They hoped the court would require Berlin to block the US from carrying out future operations from Ramstein. The case moved through German courts for years before the constitutional court dismissed it last week.

The article points out that the case was a constant feature of the legal and political landscape to analysts tracking drone policy in Germany. Sometimes dormant, sometimes resurgent, it became a key source of information revealing just how central Ramstein had been to US drone campaigns in the post-9/11 era.

Today, Ramstein’s significance has diminished as US drone activity in regions like Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia has decreased—though recent strikes on the Houthis could signal a revival. Still, according to the article, the lawsuit mirrored broader themes in Germany’s drone discourse: the focus wasn’t on German drones, but on America’s.

Over the past few decades, few military technologies have sparked as much public attention in Germany as drones. Yet, despite deploying unmanned systems since the 1970s, much of the domestic conversation has centered on how the US uses drones.

The Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, adopted drone surveillance early, acquiring its first systems in 1972. But post-Cold War budget cuts sidelined drone development. Germany’s involvement in NATO’s Afghan mission from 2002 rekindled interest. Initially lacking deployable drones, Germany eventually acquired and fielded five systems in Afghanistan.

Despite their utility, drones didn’t dominate the German media until the early 2010s, when US drone strikes attracted international scrutiny. From then on, German drone policy became increasingly shaped by US actions. In fact, Bundestag discussions on drones from 2006 to 2014 focused nearly as much on American operations as on Germany’s own programs.

This led the German public and political class to associate drones with US targeted killings, deemed illegal by many legal scholars. The article argues that perception severely hindered any constructive debate over arming Bundeswehr drones—a proposal first floated in 2012. As a result, the parliamentary decision to move ahead with armed drones wasn’t made until April 2022, after a decade of contention.

Recently, however, a shift has occurred. The drawdown of America’s global drone operations has allowed Germany to reassess its own approach. Ramstein’s role may also diminish further due to advances in satellite communications—like the Starlink mega-constellation—which could make fiber-linked bases less necessary.

Crucially, the war in Ukraine and the prominent role drones play in it have refocused Europe’s attention. In November 2023, Germany’s Defence Ministry launched a “drone task force,” which released its findings this past June. Plans for acquiring new drone and counter-drone systems are now being expedited.

With the end of the Ramstein legal saga, Germany’s long and often counterproductive preoccupation with American drone policy also seems to be drawing to a close, which the article's author argues might create space for a more focused, strategic conversation about the future of German defence and drone capabilities.

By Nazrin Sadigova