Drones spotted at Kleine-Brogel military base
On Friday night, drones were spotted at the Kleine-Brogel military base in Peer, Limburg province, an important air force base for the Belgian army. American nuclear weapons are stored there and, from 2027, it will be the home base for F-35s, the new fighter jets.
Last month, suspicious drones were already spotted above the Elsenborn military training camp and above the barracks in Marche-en-Famenne. Now, “several drones” have also been detected at Kleine-Brogel, defence minister Theo Francken stated on X.
The military base has had a drone detection system in place for some time. “The Ministry of Defence will be meeting with the local police next week to analyse the threat and scale up our efforts to find and arrest drone pilots,” added minister Francken.
After the sighting, the police arrived on the scene, but by then the drones were no longer visible, and the military intelligence service was notified. According to Francken, images of the drones were taken.
When drones were reported above critical infrastructure throughout Europe in recent months, Russia was often identified as the suspect. For the time being, there are no clues as to who is behind the drones above Kleine-Brogel. The intention, to spy or to cause panic for example, is also unclear.
Drones were also reportedly observed last night at the military domain in Leopoldsburg, close to Kleine-Brogel. No details are known about the exact circumstances at this stage. The mayors of Peer and Leopoldsburg have already held talks today about the incidents.
Minister Francken announced this week that he has a 50 million euro plan ready for a drone defence system. The inter-cabinet working group will discuss it on Tuesday, and it will be presented to the Council of Ministers on Friday. “We urgently need more CUAS instruments (Counter Unmanned Aircraft System, drone defence systems, ed.),” he emphasised.
#FlandersNewsService | Illustration © BELGA PHOTO BENOIT DOPPAGNE
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