The presence of suspicious drones. This time it is Belgium that has been suffering for a week from several incidents that have yet to be clarified in its airspace. What is especially worrying is that unidentified flights have been detected up to three times in recent days flying over military bases. The latest incident took place on the night of Friday to Saturday, when at least one drone was sighted near the Kleine-Brogel military air base in Limburg. Also on Friday, the German airport of Berlin-Brandenburg suspended its flights for almost two hours due to the presence of these devices.
Kleine-Brogel, in the northeast of the country, is not just any military base: it houses American nuclear weapons and, starting in 2027, it will also house the new F-35 combat aircraft that Belgium has purchased from the United States, recalls the Belga news agency.
While local authorities speak of a single drone sighted, the Minister of Defense, Theo Francken, evoked this Saturday the presence of “several” devices. Some were detected at the Leopoldsburg military camp, about fifteen kilometers from the air base, according to the local press.
In Kleine-Brogel, after receiving the alert from the air base, a police patrol approached the premises, although the officers “did not find any drone or pilot,” explained the mayor of neighboring Peer, Steven Matheï. Despite this, military intelligence has been alerted.
Although no one has yet officially pointed the finger of blame, all eyes are on Russia, which has been blamed for similar incidents in several European countries in recent months, from Germany to Denmark and Norway, despite the Kremlin’s denials. In no case is it thought that the devices come from Russia, but rather that those piloting them could be groups linked to Moscow.
“Next week we will meet with local police to analyze the threat and take the necessary measures to find and arrest the drone pilots,” Francken said.
The one on Friday night is just the latest in a series of incidents with suspicious drones that have affected Belgium in recent days and weeks, in which the presence of unidentified devices in its airspace. On Wednesday, Francken denounced that “multiple drones” had flown over the Marche-en-Famenne military base, near Luxembourg, a repeat case: last Saturday the minister had reported the detection of “several drones flying over crucial areas of the headquarters (…) for a long period of time.”
“This was a clearly orchestrated operation against the heart of our army,” denounced the minister, for which the devices, whose origin has not yet been identified although an investigation is open, “were seeking crucial information about critical infrastructure located on military property.”
At the beginning of October, another judicial investigation was launched after several drones were detected flying over another military base, Elsenborn, in the German-speaking area of the country. This investigation is carried out in parallel with the German authorities, since the devices were also detected in their territory. “We are not sure yet, but it is likely that Russia is orchestrating an essential part of these actions,” the German chancellor said at the time.
Last week, Francken announced a €50 million plan for an anti-drone defense system. As confirmed this Saturday, the idea is that the proposal will be debated in the Council of Ministers next Friday. “We urgently need more CUAS instruments [sistemas de defensa contra aeronaves no tripuladas, por sus siglas en inglés]”, he insisted in a message on X. “Flying drones over military areas is strictly prohibited. The Ministry of Defense must do everything possible to shoot down these drones,” he stressed.
Since their informal meeting at the beginning of October in Copenhagen, protect European airspace from Russian harassment. In the conclusions of their last formal meeting, on October 23 in Brussels, the Twenty-seven emphasize the need to focus on “concrete projects to reinforce the joint efforts of Member States to improve their air defense and anti-drone capabilities.”
