The Belgian Air Component has have taken over the surveillance of the airspace over Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg from its Dutch counterpart on Thursday.
Belgium and the Netherlands share responsibility for monitoring the airspace of the Benelux countries, taking turns at regular intervals.
This task, known in defence jargon as "Quick Reaction Alert" (QRA), involves having fighter jets ready to respond to airspace violations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The aircraft can take off within minutes to intercept unidentified aircraft. Over the past five months, Dutch F-35 fighter jets have been guarding the Benelux airspace, according to the Dutch Ministry of Defence.
Belgium will take on this duty for the next four months. For now, Belgium will use F-16s stationed at the Kleine-Brogel and Florennes airbases. Eventually, the Belgian F-16 fleet will be replaced by F-35s.
