Belgium Grants Shootdown Authority to Military as Unidentified Drones Test Base Defenses.

Gen. Frederik Vansina authorized Belgian troops to shoot down unidentified drones over military bases after three consecutive nights of incursions, including four over Kleine-Brogel on November 1-3. The order highlights urgent capability gaps and a fast-tracked, roughly €50 million counter-UAS package to be presented to the Council of Ministers, accelerating purchases from short-range MANPADS and gun systems to a NASAMS medium-range layer.

According to information published by Belga News Agency, on November 3, 2025, Belgian Chief of Defense Gen. Frederik Vansina authorized troops to shoot down unidentified drones flying over military bases, following three consecutive nights of incursions that included four drones over Kleine-Brogel Air Base. Vansina said engagements must be carried out only when safe and without collateral damage, citing the difficulty of hitting small, agile aircraft that often appear at night. The order was delivered publicly during a naval ceremony in Zeebrugge and echoed across Belgian and international media the following day.
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Belgium is acquiring NASAMS systems to reinforce air and base defense as part of its new counter-drone strategy following repeated incursions over key NATO facilities, including Kleine-Brogel Air Base (Picture source: Australian MoD).

The directive caps a month of sightings that began with a drone over the Elsenborn training area on October 3, continued above the King Albert base at Marche-en-Famenne on October 25, and culminated with repeated incursions over Kleine-Brogel from November 1 to 3. Defense Minister Theo Francken called the pattern a probable spy operation and said a fast-tracked counter-UAS package worth roughly 50 million euros will go to the Council of Ministers this week. Police helicopters and a jammer failed to stop at least one system during a pursuit, underscoring how quickly Belgium must translate authorizations into capability.

Kleine-Brogel is not just another base. It is widely assessed by reputable nuclear watchdogs and NATO-linked publications to store U.S. B61 gravity bombs under the Alliance’s nuclear sharing arrangements, and it is slated to host Belgium’s F-35A fleet from 2027. That status helps explain the sudden escalation in rules of engagement and the urgency around base defense.

What can Belgian troops actually use today if a hostile quadcopter or larger Group 2 platform crosses the fence line? Vansina himself acknowledged that current counter-UAS stocks are limited, built around detection sensors, radio-frequency jammers, and handheld “drone-gun” effectors. Local and federal police have supported with airborne tracking, but jamming attempts did not reliably bring down the aircraft over Kleine-Brogel, according to Belgian and international reporting. In short, the immediate tool kit exists, but it is thin and not yet layered.

Brussels is now rebuilding that layer cake. Belgium and the Netherlands have announced a joint acquisition of NASAMS for the medium-range tier, enabling a mix of AIM-120 AMRAAM and AMRAAM-ER interceptors cued by Sentinel 3D radar and electro-optical sensors. At very short range, Belgium has moved to procure Polish Piorun MANPADS, with open-source reporting indicating dozens of launchers and several hundred missiles, while a parallel track advances Rheinmetall’s Skyranger 30 mobile gun system with programmable airburst ammunition for close-in drone defeat. Together, these place credible hard-kill options around key sites once deliveries begin.

NASAMS’ modular architecture supports a layered missile mix; Raytheon’s AMRAAM-ER extends engagement volume well beyond baseline AMRAAM, while AIM-9X covers the inner envelope. Skyranger 30’s 30×173 mm KCE cannon, firing airburst rounds at up to 1,200 rounds per minute, is optimized for nimble Group 1/2 drones with an effective gun range of about 3 km, and the turret can integrate short-range missiles to reach roughly 6 km. Piorun brings a 6.5 km slant range and up to 4 km altitude with a modern IR/UV seeker and proximity fuse that has shown solid performance against small UAS.

Belgium is also linking civil and military air pictures to shorten the detect-to-decide loop. The Ministry of Defence plans tighter cooperation with Skeydrone, the U-space subsidiary of Skeyes, and has supported a national Counter-UAS testing and expertise center at DronePort Sint-Truiden to benchmark sensors and effectors. Residents around Kleine-Brogel were advised to report suspect activity and provide imagery when safe, reinforcing the human sensor network that often spots drones first.

Beyond Belgium, Europe is hardening its base protection in similar ways. France fielded the PARADE program for site defense and experimented with HELMA-P laser systems for major events, while Germany’s Rheinmetall and MBDA have advanced a high-energy laser demonstrator that recently moved into WTD 91 testing after successful shipboard trials. These programs preview a near-term European menu of effectors that Belgium could tap as it matures its force protection architecture.

What else should Belgium buy now to close gaps exposed last weekend? First, density: compact 3D X-band radars and RF geolocation arrays around priority bases, fused in a common C2, to keep persistent custody of small targets. Second, affordable hard-kill at the perimeter: accelerating Skyranger 30 fielding and distributing Piorun teams across base sectors to restore the classic “gun-and-missile” pairing. Third, standardized C-UAS suites integrated with national networks, where Belgian industry can contribute. FN Herstal and Hensoldt have already signed an MoU to pursue a long-term Belgian C-UAS program pairing weapons integration with multi-sensor detection and command software.

The intelligence angle cannot be ignored: investigators and the defense minister have signaled the incursions resemble reconnaissance activity designed to probe responses and electromagnetic signatures, not random mischief. It is illegal to fly drones over Belgian military areas, and authorities have opened multiple inquiries as they move to operationalize Vansina’s guidance. The strategic reality is simple: for a base linked to NATO’s nuclear mission, shootdown authority backed by a layered kill chain is no longer optional; it is necessary.

Written by Evan Lerouvillois, Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group.

Evan studied International Relations, and quickly specialized in defense and security. He is particularly interested in the influence of the defense sector on global geopolitics, and analyzes how technological innovations in defense, arms export contracts, and military strategies influence the international geopolitical scene.