Germany’s Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen has confirmed that Bundeswehr will soon be operating the Heron TP. However, instead of buying the UAVs, Berlin has chose to lease them to protect German troops in deployments overseas.
By David Tobarra [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Defense News revealed that the lease, which starts from 2018, will cost $650 million. The contract will run till 2025 when a new European drone comes online.