German Warship Shoots Down Drone in Self-Defense Off Lebanon
A German corvette off the coast of Lebanon had to shoot down a hostile drone at close range, Germany's military has confirmed. Drone attacks on maritime security forces are common in the Red Sea, but have not significantly affected Western naval vessels in the Eastern Mediterranean up to this point.
The corvette Ludwigshafen am Rhein is Germany's naval contribution to the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL, and is stationed off Lebanon to watch for arms smugglers and maritime security threats. The warship was operating near the Israeli-Lebanese boundary line when it was approached by a drone, which got "very close" to the ship before it was shot down. Some of the wreckage of the drone was recovered for examination.
So far, German officials have not released details of the type and origin of the drone, nor the method used to shoot it down.
Germany's primary role in UNIFIL is the maritime component off Lebanon, but the Bundeswehr also has about 40 soldiers on the ground with UNIFIL, and the force has been shot at several times over the past week. Tensions in Lebanon are unusually high: the Israeli military has launched a limited invasion to root out the terrorist group Hezbollah in the border region, and it has killed most of the organization's top leadership.
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