A German naval frigate sent to protect commercial ships in the Red Sea nearly shot down a US drone by accident. The German Defense Ministry confirmed a drone incident involving an allied nation occurred on Monday, without naming the country.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the Hesse frigate, which arrived in the region at the weekend as part of an EU mission to help secure international shipping, opened fire after efforts to identify the unknown drone “were unsuccessful.”
Ministry spokesman Michael Stempfle said, “The case was resolved when it turned out that it wasn’t a hostile drone, which only became clear in hindsight.”
Fortunately, two missiles fired at the drone missed their target and crashed into the sea due to “a technical defect,” according to Der Spiegel news magazine, which also claimed that the UAV in question was a US Reaper reconnaissance drone.
Without citing its sources, Spiegel speculated that the drone may have been in the area “as part of an American anti-terror mission” unrelated to the Red Sea mission, but said military officials believed the friendly-fire incident showed that coordination between allies involved in various missions in the region around Yemen “needs to be improved.”
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