Germany votes to bring in voluntary military service programme for 18-year-olds

“The change means that all 18-year-olds in Germany will be sent a questionnaire from January 2026 asking if they are interested and willing to join the armed forces. The form will be mandatory for men and voluntary for women.“ - all men have to fill out and return a form, I suppose this will work to increase recruitment. Doesn’t seem very controversial.

Why do they have to fill it in and return it just to say no? Could this be used against them at some time in the future? And why women instead can just ignore it?

Usually HN is very wary of the consequences of the state collecting data about its citizens and restricting freedoms in small steps. Is it not the case now?

When push comes to shove, men and women aren't equal

When it comes to being drone operators or targets it’s probably a negligible difference

Actually you make a good point here. Women have better reaction times then men, so female drone operators, all else being equal, may be better at the job.