Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, will no longer use Chinese-made drones, a defence ministry spokesperson said, amid mounting concern among Western militaries that such systems could pose a security risk and be used to transmit sensitive information to Beijing. Germany's Der Spiegel news outlet first reported the change.

Source: Reuters

"To strengthen the Bundeswehr's self-sufficiency and technological sovereignty, Chinese-made models will no longer be used," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement reported by Reuters. Drones from Chinese manufacturers had previously been permitted as a cost-effective option for target practice and training purposes, and they will now be replaced with European products.

The spokesperson said there is no blanket ban on the use of systems from specific countries, adding that the decision is based on individual risk assessments aimed at safeguarding military security, IT and data security. In other words, the ministry framed the move as a risk-based removal of Chinese models, not a formal country ban in law.

Reporting on the decision said commercially available Chinese-made drones — including models by DJI, the world's largest drone maker — were banned from Bundeswehr barracks and training grounds with immediate effect, and units were told to stop flying the ones they already own and replace them with German or European products. The ban covers the small off-the-shelf aircraft units bought for training, not Germany's large centrally procured military drone systems.

A ban that did not stick the first time

This is not the first time the Bundeswehr has tried this. A 2023 order warned that data from drones made in states with special security risks — at the time, only China — could flow to Beijing. Yet a year later the military signed a contract for 500 DJI Matrice M30T thermal drones, according to DroneXL's account of the Der Spiegel and CORRECTIV reporting. Local commanders were also able to buy drones under a later strategy with an approved "white list" that included DJI systems, and there was no central record of what individual units purchased, according to that reporting.

That history is why the new decision matters beyond one procurement rule: it is a test of whether a European army can actually unwind its dependence on cheap Chinese hardware it had already bought, at the moment drones have become central to modern warfare — a lesson driven home daily in Ukraine, where small commercial-style drones are used for reconnaissance and strikes.

The move also fits a wider Western pattern. The United States and other allies have restricted Chinese drones and components over data-security concerns, while European governments are pushing defence "technological sovereignty" — building supply chains at home for equipment they may need at scale in a crisis. China and DJI have repeatedly rejected espionage allegations in past disputes; no DJI or Chinese government response to this specific Bundeswehr decision was reported in the Reuters account.

What happens next

Units must replace the grounded Chinese models with European products, the ministry said. How quickly that happens, what it costs, and whether exceptions appear in practice — as they did after the 2023 order — will decide whether this ban sticks. The ministry said assessments would continue on a case-by-case basis for other systems.