The Belgian authorities have purchased interceptor drones from a Latvian company after a series of drone incidents. This was stated by Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken, reports UNN with reference to the Reuters agency.
Details
Theo Francken announced that in Riga he signed an agreement with the Latvian company Origin Robotics for the purchase of autonomous Blaze drones, capable of detecting and neutralizing enemy aircraft.
In a few weeks, these interceptor drones will enhance our capabilities
The drone procurement agreement is part of a 50 million euro (57.99 million dollar) package of counter-drone measures. However, the ministry did not specify what portion of this amount the contract with Origin Robotics represents.
Francken also noted that in the future, they plan to allocate 500 million euros for a broader drone defense system, which will include modern radar systems and enhanced electronic jamming capabilities.
Drone incidents in Belgium
On the night of November 1, several drones were detected over the Klein-Brogel military airbase in Belgium, where US nuclear weapons are stored.
On November 4, Belgian airspace was partially closed for security reasons after reports of several groups of UAVs flying over the country, including in the vicinity of Brussels and Liege airports.
On November 6, due to unknown drones, the Brussels airport was paralyzed, leading to a delay in the flight of Saxony-Anhalt Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff.
Recall
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius suggested that drone sightings over Belgium could be related to discussions about the use of frozen Russian assets. Belgium holds 183 billion euros in Russian assets, which accounts for the majority of all Russian state assets in the EU.