Belgian Army issues orders to shoot down drones spotted flying above military bases

On Sunday evening, 4 drones were spotted over the Kleine-Brogel air base near Peer, in Limburg Province. This marked the third consecutive night of drone activity above Belgian military and civilian aviation sites.

Also, on Sunday evening the local police in Mechelen received a report of a dozen drones flying over the Mechelen-Zuid industrial estate. However, when they went to the site they didn’t spot any drones.

Speaking on Monday evening, General Vansina added that a programme to protect Belgium against drones is being implemented at an accelerated pace. The plan will be presented to the federal cabinet in very shortly.

As things currently stand the Belgian military’s resources to combat drones, such as detection equipment, jammers and drone guns are limited. 

General Vansina (photo above) went on to say that if more drones are seen flying above army bases, military personnel have orders to shoot them down. However, drones can only be taken down if it can be done safely, "without causing collateral damage”. The army chief explained that this is not easy, given that the drones fly at night and are small and highly manoeuvrable.

On Monday, the Kleine-Brogel air base published guidelines for residents of Peer and the surrounding area to follow if they spot any suspicious drones.

“Suspicious activity should be reported to the police as soon as possible,” the guidelines state. If a drone is spotted, residents are encouraged to try and take a photo or shoot a video of it.

The Local Police Service has attempted to follow drones from the ground in a van while a federal police helicopter pursued them in the air. However, these efforts were unsuccessful.

The guidelines also state that "People should also not be misled by false reports on social media channels," the guidelines state.