The United States has offered support to Belgium in the fight against the recent increase in drone activity.
According to the Belgian newspaper Le Soir, the United States has made a corresponding offer of support, following Germany, France and the UK.
Belgian Defense Minister Theo Franken told the House of Representatives that “coordinated security measures are being taken together with allied countries” against unauthorized drone flights seen in critical areas of the country.
Franken noted that Belgium has requested specialized anti-drone teams from neighboring countries.
“Germany, Great Britain and France have responded positively, and their special units with equipment are already deployed in Belgium,” he said.
According to the minister, these units are providing active support in the field of technical equipment, detection systems and airspace security.
The United States has also offered assistance to Belgium. We are now assessing with American representatives how, where and on what scale this assistance can be used as effectively as possible, he added.
Drone activity in Belgium
After Poland, Romania, Estonia and Denmark, the topic of drones came into the spotlight in Belgium, where the EU institutions and NATO headquarters are located.
On October 3, drone movement was recorded over the Elsenborn military training center, after which the Ministry of Defense initiated an investigation.
On October 25, at least four drones were reported to have been spotted over the King Albert military base at Marche-en-Famenne in Wallonia.
On the night of November 1, three drones were spotted over Kleine Brögel airbase, used for both national and NATO operations. On the evening of November 2, four more drones were observed over the same base. This week, drones were also spotted twice at Liege airport, causing flights to be suspended for security reasons.
At Brussels airport on November 4 and 6, drones were also spotted at night, leading to disruptions to flight schedules.
On November 10, drone movements were detected over the Doul nuclear power plant and over Liege airport.
On November 6, the Belgian National Safety Council adopted the decision that suspicious drones, if necessary, can be neutralized by police or military personnel. The Council also said that the National Airspace Security Center (NASC) will become operational on January 1, 2026 to combat this threat.