Netherlands to spend up to €3 billion on anti-drone systems amid rising drone sightings
The Dutch Ministry of Defense reported a plan to spend between 1.25 billion and 3 billion euros to strengthen anti-drone capabilities, including additional anti-drone cannon systems, interception drones, radars, and countermeasures for small drones. Protection for naval vessels against drone attacks will also be bolstered.
Earlier this year, Defense announced it would acquire 22 Skyranger 30 mobile anti-drone systems, with the first expected in 2028.
The announcement follows repeated drone sightings over Dutch military bases. Drones were reported over Eindhoven and Volkel air bases this past weekend, prompting Defense to fire on the drones using both electronic countermeasures and weapons for the first time.
Earlier this month, a drone was spotted over the control tower at Gilze-Rijen Air Base. A subsequent investigation by the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, the Dutch military police, found no perpetrators, and weeks before that, another drone had been detected at the same base.
Caretaker State Secretary Gijs Tuinman described the incidents with unidentified drones as “very concerning developments. The effective use of, and defense against, unmanned systems is a cat-and-mouse game and requires rapid steps in innovation and scaling.”
Letters to the Tweede Kamer emphasized the global nature of the threat. “The recent incidents with drones over Dutch airfields and previous incidents with Russian drones in Poland and Romania repeatedly show that the threat from uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) is significant. This threat is not limited to land; it is increasing for naval vessels and merchant shipping as well, as seen in Houthi kamikaze drone attacks on ships in the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest trade routes,” the letters stated.
The ministry also warned that kamikaze drones are changing naval operations. “Opponents can more easily detect and attack a fleet formation or marine unit with unmanned aerial systems. Where our own units previously stayed close together to support each other, they are now forced to adopt a more distributed approach. Units must be able to defend their own ships and, where applicable, protect merchant vessels against unmanned aerial systems,” the letters said.
According to the letter, lessons from the war in Ukraine and developments in the Middle East are informing Defense’s strategy. “Europe, and the Netherlands in particular, is facing increasing deployment of (unidentified) drones. The recent incidents with Russian drones in Poland and Romania, as well as the detection of small, low-cost drones over critical infrastructure of NATO allies and recently in the Netherlands, are highly concerning. The importance of counter-UAS (C-UAS) capabilities for combating unmanned systems is significant,” the letters stated.
Defense plans to deploy operational drone intervention teams by the end of 2025 and acquire additional mobile combat C-UAS platforms under the “Verwerving Combat Counter-UAS” project to strengthen both territorial defense and operational units along the eastern flank.
