Agreement in principle on counter-drone plan for Belgium
Belgium's Council of Ministers reached an agreement in principle on a counter-drone plan on Friday. Reportedly, "a number of avenues" still need to be explored further before the plan will receive a final green light.
The office of Defence minister Theo Francken reported the agreement in principle. Last week, Francken announced that he had a plan ready to detect and shoot down hostile drones.
Belgium has recently experienced a surge in drone sightings near airports, army bases, and other critical infrastructure sites. Francken proposed an urgent package of measures costing 50 million euros.
“These are (semi-)professional drones flying in formation, which not everyone can do,” Francken said on Wednesday regarding an incident at Brussels Airport. “Various indications suggest that this was a structured operation,” he added.
Support from Germany
On Thursday evening and Friday morning, flight traffic was disrupted again by drone sightings at Brussels and Liège airports.
Francken also announced that international support was on its way. On Thursday, the German army said it would send units to Belgium. The Chief of Defence has also requested assistance from other neighbouring countries.
The first German units are said to have already arrived to "assess the situation and coordinate the temporary deployment of drone detection and defence systems with the Belgian armed forces".
© PHOTO BELPRESS
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