BERLIN: Germany on Monday said that it was delivering 4,000 AI-guided drones to Ukraine, even as it has refused to send Kyiv the long-range Taurus missile system.
Berlin has been the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters at an event in Bavaria that the drones being provided “were directed and supported by artificial intelligence” and that they could “take out the enemy’s electronic drone defences”.
The drones “can be delivered very quickly” and could be “deployed 30-40 kilometres (19-25 miles) behind the front line and hit combat posts, logistics hubs among other targets”, Pistorius said.
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Along some parts of the front line in Ukraine, such a distance would reach into Russian territory.
Berlin had announced in June its intention to deliver drones to Ukraine but had not given details on their specifications.
Despite the unmanned aerial vehicles being nicknamed “mini-Taurus” by the German media, the government was careful to point out they don’t have the same range.
“These are tactical drones with a restricted range,” defence ministry spokesman Natalie Jenning told reporters at a government press conference on Monday.
“There is no connection to the Taurus (system) as has been sketched out in some of the media coverage,” she added.
The current government headed by Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz has refused to supply Ukraine with the Taurus system, fearing that the move could draw Russia and the West into a more direct conflict.
Kyiv’s repeated appeals for the missiles, which have a reach of more than 500 kilometres (310 miles), have been in vain.
The government on Monday stressed that its position was unchanged, despite US President Joe Biden’s decision Sunday to allow Ukraine to use long-range US missiles to strike targets inside Russia.
Scholz’s continued resistance comes despite Russian forces having made rapid gains in recent weeks, and Moscow’s decision to deploy North Korean troops to aid its war effort.
Some in the chancellor’s own government have contradicted his stance.
Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who will lead the Green party into a snap general election in February, said that he would deliver the Taurus system to Ukraine if he were chancellor.
The main opposition party, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which is currently leading in opinion polls, has also said it is in favour of sending the missiles to Kyiv.