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Frigate “Hesse”
Photo: Sina Schuldt/dpa
The inspector of the German Navy, Jan Christian Kaack, thanked the crew of the frigate “Hessen” for their deployment in the Red Sea.
The vice admiral also defended the soldiers against criticism after they shot at an initially unidentifiable US drone.
»The procedure was like in the textbook.
The drone was clearly classified as hostile.
“I would have acted exactly the same as a commander,” Kaack told the dpa news agency.
The frigate “Hessen”, used to protect merchant ships, fended off an attack by the Houthi militia operating from Yemen for the first time on Tuesday evening.
The ship taking part in the EU military mission “Aspides” shot down two drones one after the other.
Kaack said: "The occupation of the Hessians and the commander acted brilliantly last night." He also confirmed that there was enough ammunition for the operation.
“We will replenish ammunition as soon as possible,” said Kaack.
The shooting down of the two drones was not the first use of weapons by the “Hesse”.
She had already shot at a drone on Monday - in this case one from an allied country, which missed.
As SPIEGEL reported on Tuesday, it was a US Reaper drone.
The drone was apparently traveling at high speed in the “Hesse” operational area, in which 15 civilian merchant ships were located at the time, without a friend-enemy identification and without a report from the allies.
The decision to fire was made according to the agreed rules and after consultation with the command, it said.
Because of the attacks by the Houthis, who are armed by Iran, large shipping companies are increasingly avoiding the shortest sea connection between Asia and Europe - with significant effects on the global economy.
Almost daily, the US military carries out strikes to eliminate Houthi targets, including missiles and drones aimed at ships and weapons prepared to be fired.
asc/dpa