The universally beloved and respected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was once again in a generous mood.

Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently stood reverently—almost in holy awe—around a model of a drone.

This meditative fervor is probably necessary, too.

After all, the largest drone purchase to date for Ukraine was just finalized here.

Yes, Ukraine is receiving a whopping 50,000 drones with a total value of 90 million euros.

To read this article in the following languages, click the Translate Website button below the author’s name.

And who, dear reader, is paying for these drones?

Of course, the German taxpayers! You, me, and the nice ice cream vendor next door. You heard that right.

Germany is ordering the 50,000 drones. Germany is paying for the 50,000 drones. And Ukraine is getting these cool toys as a gift from us. Isn’t that touching? Such selflessness?

Just imagine: a rough-looking guy approaches you on the street, snatches your wallet out of your pocket, walks into the nearest crowded bar with it, takes out your cash, and shouts, “A round of drinks for everyone! You’re all my friends!” That’s exactly what just happened to the German taxpayers—unfortunately, not for the first time. Their tax money is actually meant to fulfill the government’s statutory obligations: transportation, infrastructure, education, health care, and public safety. That money isn’t meant to be used to flood the governments of foreign countries with military hardware.

But once again, the German government isn’t at a loss for a good excuse. The money in question for the Ukrainian drones actually comes from a so-called “strengthening initiative.” (Ertüchtigungsinitiative). The excuse is: the money for Ukraine is a great investment. Because when a country right on our doorstep is attacked by an aggressor, we will come to the aid of the attacked country with money and expertise. The countries we support are empowered by our aid to defend themselves—with their own soldiers, their own infrastructure, and at their own risk. Then it may be that the evil aggressor won’t even be able to reach our doorstep. The strengthening initiative was launched by the German federal government in 2015. For many years, all kinds of countries bordering Russia benefited from several hundred million euros to build up their capabilities. Since the start of the Ukrainian-Russian war in 2022, however, the amount allocated for strengthening has been increased by at least a factor of ten. And what do you think the German taxpayers are giving away to Ukraine in the current fiscal year 2026? Well, it’s a whopping twelve billion euros[2]. The German taxpayer is giving it to the Ukrainian government without any discernible return. Hans in Luck.

And the funding for the strengthening initiative is not a so-called “special fund” outside the regular federal budget. No, rather, it is an integral part of the federal budget, which is intended to cover the German needs[3]. And while areas such as child care, education, transportation, infrastructure, and even health care are currently being ruthlessly slashed under the pretext of the debt brake, this debt brake does not apply to the aforementioned strengthening fund.

Lindsey Graham, Friedrich Merz and SkyFall

One of U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham’s most recent activities was to visit Ukraine, where he also toured the SkyFall drone factory[4]. Like a small child, Graham posed with drones named “Vampyr” and “Shrike.” The U.S. senator’s latest visit to the arms factory has something to do with our history. That’s because the 50,000 drones the Germans purchased for Ukraine without their knowledge are manufactured by SkyFall. SkyFall supplies the mechanical frame. And the American-German company Auterion supplies the drone’s intelligent innards[5]. Thanks to these intelligent drone innards, Ukrainian recruits can then steer the little flying machines to their targets from a safe location. Then artificial intelligence takes command and guides the kamikaze drone to the desired target with the utmost precision.

The Russians had, in fact, completely revolutionised modern warfare in the Ukrainian carnage. Costs and casualties on their own side were dramatically reduced thanks to the intelligent Shahed drones from Iran.

Ukraine is now using this as an opportunity to emulate and optimise Russian-Iranian innovations. Thanks to their unique advantage of being able to test their technology in real combat, Ukrainian startup entrepreneurs feel called upon to rise to the forefront of drone technology worldwide. And the Germans are helping them do just that. In fact, so that Ukrainian drone entrepreneurs can refine their technology undisturbed, they have largely settled in Germany. And as a result, companies in Germany now inevitably find themselves in the crosshairs of Russian war scenarios. It is therefore not surprising that in mid-April of this year, Russia published a list of companies in Europe that could be considered potential targets in the event of an emergency[6]. Among those named in Germany are DaVinci Avia GmbH, the Ukrainian company Airlogix in the Munich area—which cooperates with Auterion—and the former model airplane factory 3W Professional in Hanau.

Auterion CEO Lorenz Meier proudly announced on the social media platform X:

“In collaboration with Skyfall, we’re delivering 50,000 AI-powered attack systems—that’s more than the U.S. and Germany have procured combined for their own armed forces this year. It’s time to build drones on a massive scale!”[7]

Sure, that’s the clever businessman for you: the pampered warmongers in Ukraine are getting 50,000 attack drones from you and me. Attack drones as a gift—let that sink in for a moment: attack drones. They’re not holding back anymore. So we’re not in this for defence, but to attack. We’re already familiar with another aspect of the “merchants of death’s” strategy: “Look at this! Now the Ukrainians have more drones than Germany and the U.S. combined! That’s unacceptable! How are you going to explain that to your people back home?! Now this imbalance must be corrected as quickly as possible by Germany and the U.S. significantly ramping up their own supplies. There’s still plenty of room to grow!”[8] By the way: given all our experience with Ukraine, we certainly shouldn’t assume that all 50,000 drones will actually remain in Ukraine. Who can guarantee that these cute little drones won’t end up being sold off somewhere on the grey market in other crisis zones? Never mind! After all, the average German citizen paid for them!

Germany as a Theater of War?

Yes, supposedly the military buildup initiative was intended to keep the war as far away from German soil as possible. But we can see now that exactly the opposite is happening. Russia correctly recognises that its adversary in this war has long since ceased to be Ukraine, but is instead the Western military alliance NATO. In Germany, modern weapons are being forged for the final showdown against the Russian bear. Let’s not kid ourselves: this exact opposite effect is precisely what the architects of the military buildup initiative intended. Everything is designed to corner Russia and provoke it to such an extent that the Russian bear will finally strike. However, I do not consider Russia strong enough to put a swift end to these perfidious schemes with a handful of Oreshnik missiles. After all, we can see that even after more than four years of fighting with no holds barred, Russia still hasn’t managed to advance even as far as the western borders of the Donetsk Republics. For years, the Russians have been fighting for every potato field, suffering heavy losses. They will likely be able to hold their ground against the onslaught of NATO forces, which are hopelessly superior in numbers. But the conduct of the war in Ukraine shows us that a long-drawn-out war of attrition lies ahead. At least, that will be the case unless we put a stop to the insane antics of these rampaging “strengtheners” as quickly as possible.

So, and now to wrap things up, I’ll pull out one more rotten tooth: anyone who thinks the AfD would put an end to this madness has never really done their homework. In this context, I’d like to quote AfD Chairwoman Alice Weidel, who commented on Trump’s demand to spend five percent of gross domestic product on defence as follows:

“Yes, I actually think that’s very likely, by the way. If they [the federal government] are really serious about strengthening the Bundeswehr and also about their own national defence.” ZDF reporter: “And would you support that?” Weidel’s response: “But of course!”[9]

There it is—that lovely phrase about “strengthening.”

I believe we would be well advised to stop relying on political parties when it comes to the issue of war and peace, and instead to stand up for ourselves as citizens who are both fully responsible and exploited. This is getting to the heart of the matter. It has been for a long time. I just heard from friends that there are massive job cuts in some preschools once again. At the same time, the children are no longer supposed to be given mineral water to drink. Instead, parents are told that tap water will quench their thirst just as well. Good mineral water is too expensive for our children.

No, I mean, enough is enough …

*

Click the share button below to email/forward this article. Follow us on Instagram and X and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost Global Research articles with proper attribution.

Hermann Ploppa is a political scientist and journalist. Ploppa recently published the book “Der Neue Feudalismus – Privatisierung, Blackrock, Plattformkapitalismus” (The New Feudalism – Privatization, Blackrock, Platform Capitalism). As Amazon does not yet stock the book, it is best to order it from the author at: [email protected]. Visit the author’s blog here.

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Notes

[1] https://www.fr.de/politik/bundesregierung-finanziert-50-000-angriffsdrohnen-fuer-die-ukraine-94395319.html

[2] https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/haushalt-bundesregierung-plant-erhoehung-der-ukraine-hilfe/100171019.html

[3] https://www.bundesrechnungshof.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Berichte/2025/einzelplan-2026/05-volltext.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=2

[4] https://nypost.com/2026/07/12/us-news/lindsey-graham-toured-top-secret-ukrainian-drone-factory-days-before-his-death/

[5] https://auterion.com/

[6] https://www.fr.de/panorama/russland-droht-deutschland-als-strategisches-hinterland-der-ukraine-94266450.html

[7] Lorenz Meier@drlorenzmeierWe are shipping 50,000 AI enabled strike systems in partnership with Skyfall – that is more than the U.S. and Germany have procured combined for their own troops this year. Time to build drones at scale! reuters.comGermany funds 50,000 strike drones for Ukraine, source says10:18 PM · Jul 12, 2026 · 2.26K Views6 Replies · 31 Likes

[8] https://cdn.mises.org/The%20Merchants%20of%20Death_2.pdf

[9] Jules El-Khatib@ju_khatibDie Spitzenkandidatin der “Friedenspartei” AfD, Alice Weidel hält Steigerung der Militärausgaben auf 5% des BIP (220 Milliarden Euro) für „sehr wahrscheinlich“ und wäre dafür. Alice Weidel ist keine Friedenskanzlerin, sondern Verfechterin der Träume der Rüstungsindustrie. 12:39 AM · Jan 10, 2025 · 7.43K Views11 Replies · 33 Reposts · 165 Likes

Featured image is from the author

Global Research is a reader-funded media. We do not accept any funding from corporations or governments. Help us stay afloat. Click the image below to make a one-time or recurring donation.