Belgium claims that suspicious drones “come to spy, to see where the F-16s are, where the munitions are”. Investigation after the weekend incident

Belgium's defense minister said on Sunday that drones spotted over Belgian military bases over the weekend were intended to spy on fighter jets and munitions, reports Politico.

“They come to spy, to see where the F-16s are, where the munitions are and other very strategic information,” Minister Theo Francken told RTBF.

Also on Sunday, the official announced that an investigation had been launched into the sighting of unmanned aerial vehicles flying over the Kleine Brogel military base in northern Belgium.

The base is essential to the defense of Belgium and also has an American presence. American-made F-16 fighter jets are currently stationed there, and F-35 aircraft will also be stationed there.

Politico points out that the incident in Belgium is just one of those that have taken place recently in the country and elsewhere in Europe. In September, Russian drones were intercepted and shot down in Polish airspace, and another Russian drone violated Romanian airspace. Drones of unknown origin – suspected to be also Russian – disrupted air traffic at airports in Denmark, Norway and Germany.

The Belgian defense minister did not attribute the weekend incident to Moscow, but said “the Russians are trying to do this in all European countries”.

“Is it the Russians now? I can't say that, but the reasons are clear, and the ways to do such things are also very clear,” continued Theo Francken.

“The war is truly a drone war, and the Department of Defense really needs to prepare for that,” he added.

The minister is to present next week a 50 million euro plan to implement a national system to counter drones. Speaking to Radio 1, he previously said the package would fund detection systems, jammers and drone weapons to protect key installations.