In the night from Friday to Saturday, drones of unknown origin were spotted at the Kleine-Brogel military base in the Belgian town of Peer. Minister of Defense Theo Francken shares this on X. Last week, drones were also spotted several times at another, more southern Belgian base. The origin of these drones is also unknown.
According to Flemish media the police quickly arrived on the scene to investigate, but the device and driver could not be identified. This incident will further increase the vigilance at the Belgian army quarters. This was sparked earlier this month when at least fifteen drones were accidentally spotted above a military training area in the east of the country.
Defense Minister Francken has therefore worked hard in recent weeks to complete his “counterdrone file”. This plan, which proposes to: 50 million euros to purchase detection and anti-drone systems, discussed in the Belgian Council of Ministers. Francken wants to buy equipment to shoot drones out of the sky, among other things. “Defense must do everything in its power to take down these drones,” he writes today in his X-message about the activity at Kleine-Brogel.
Cartridge
The drone sightings in Belgium fit a now familiar pattern: there have been suspicious drone activities throughout Europe in recent months, often above critical infrastructure. Russia was often the suspect of this.
Kleine-Brogel is an important base for Belgian defense. From 2027, the military airport must become home to the new F-35 fighter planes. In addition, American nuclear weapons have been stored there for decades. Last year there was also noticeable drone activity above the base, but this turned out to be about… drones from local hobbyists who violated the rules for flying over military domains.
Various media report that there was also nocturnal drone activity at another military domain near Kleine-Brogel, but according to Minister Francken these facts not yet confirmed.
NEW: Give this item as a gift
As an NRC subscriber you can subscribe every month 10 articles give as a gift to someone without an NRC subscription. The recipient can read the article directly, without a paywall.