Drones over Belgium's military bases: Can't we just shoot them down?

As more mysterious drones were spotted flying over Belgian army bases last weekend, the unrest in the military and political world is growing – especially as there is no clarity about what they are doing or who is operating them.

Numerous drone sightings were reported in Belgium last weekend: four reports were made at the Kleine-Brogel air force base (Limburg province) and the Marche-en-Famenne military site (Luxembourg). Air traffic controller Skeyes also reported drones at the army base in Leopoldsburg (Limburg), and the airports of Ostend (West-Flanders) and Deurne (Antwerp).

"There are systems that make it possible to easily identify commercial drones and find out who is operating them," Ward Decaluwe, managing director of DronePort, a business centre specialising in drones located at the former military airport in Sint-Truiden, told The Brussels Times.

However, to be able to detect and track all drones, you need to be aware of all the technologies that are being used, he said. "And that is not easy. The war in Ukraine is a laboratory in that respect: developments are happening at lightning speed."

Shoot them down

On Monday, the Chief of Defence of the Belgian Armed Forces, Frederik Vansina, told Belga News Agency that the order had been given to shoot down the unknown drones that were spotted.

At present, the resources available to combat drones – detection equipment, jammers and drone guns – are limited. On Friday, the Federal Government will discuss the €50 million "counter-drone dossier" proposed by Defence Minister Theo Francken (N-VA).

If he gets the green light, things could move quickly. "We can purchase and have the equipment delivered this month," Francken told VTM last weekend. Next year, he also wants to launch a new, larger drone plan worth more than €500 million, which is in the pipeline for this.

Until then, the drones can already be shot down if they reappear, Vansina confirmed. "The order has been given to shoot them down," he said, adding that this is conditional on the drones being able to be shot down safely, "without collateral damage."

Belgian army chief Frederik Vansina. Credit: Belga

In Kleine-Brogel, an anti-drone weapon was deployed last weekend, without success – illustrating that shooting a drone out of the sky is very difficult, Decaluwe said.

"First of all, you have to be able to see them. But because they are so small, this is difficult even on radar. There are currently no systems that can see everything," he said.

Additionally, even if you can spot a drone, shooting it down is another issue entirely. "Suppose you manage to hit it, you do not know where the aircraft will crash or if there are any explosives on board."

"Using a jammer to disrupt the signal can help, but then you need to know which radio frequency it works on. And that also has consequences: if you switch on a jammer, no one in the vicinity will have mobile phone coverage and electric garage doors will no longer be able to be opened," Decaluwe explained. "So it is not that straightforward."

Open secrets and espionage

Therefore, some systems are being installed to make it possible to locate the controller of commercial drones operating on a certain frequency. "But then you have to assume that these are drones that can be seen, or fly on frequencies that are known. And in these recent cases, we do not know that either."

According to Belgium's Defence Minister Theo Francken (N-VA), this is clearly the work of professionals, probably commissioned by what he called "state actors" – meaning other countries.

This is especially important in the case of the Kleine-Brogel military base, as it is an open secret that American nuclear weapons are stored there.

Francken suspects espionage; a device hovered over Kleine-Brogel for half an hour, he said. In that time, it could theoretically gather a lot of data, such as what the terrain looks like, where cameras are located and how often the guard passes by.

The Kleine Brogel military airbase in the province of Limburg. Credit: Belga

"That is a lot of valuable information for a sabotage operation," he said. While it remains a matter of speculation about who is controlling the drones, Francken has cautiously suggested Russia.

"Often, the operators are located dozens of kilometres away. We were close by," he said. "The police did a good job, but at a certain point, they lost the signal. It was also dark."

For DronePort's Decaluwe, the most important message is that there is no single solution. "Steps definitely need to be taken, but everyone must be aware that it will take effort over the coming months and years to get to a solution. And even then, that solution may not even be 100% conclusive."

Drones over Belgium's military bases: Can't we just shoot them down?

Shoot them down

Open secrets and espionage

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