March 1, 2024 (EIRNS)—The German navy is apparently a little short on air defense training. The German frigate Hessen, participating in the EU deployment in the Red Sea known as Operation Aspide, attempted to shoot down a drone of then-unknown origin earlier this week with two surface to air missiles. The drone, however, turned not to be a Houthi attack drone aimed at some unsuspecting merchant ship, but rather a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Predator.
The missiles missed but the attempted shoot-down came after a query with nearby allies about the status of the drone, which flew without a transponder turned on that would allow coalition forces to identify it as friendly, reported Defense News, citing the German military news website Augengeradeaus .
