Netherlands plans major army boost with drones at core
The Netherlands' Ministry of Defence has unveiled a new strategy prioritizing drones, based on lessons from conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. The goal is to have over half of all combat results achieved by unmanned systems within five years.
The Dutch Ministry of Defence has published its new defence strategy, called the “White Paper on Defence 2026”. The document, which is over 100 pages long, incorporates lessons learned from conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and places drones at the forefront.
According to the strategy, unmanned systems will be used “wherever possible”. The Netherlands has set a target to ensure that within the next five years, more than half of all combat results are achieved through unmanned systems. The armed forces are to use a combination of high-quality, affordable, replaceable, and unmanned assets.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Defence, together with industry, plans to create a “development lab” for developing and testing counter-drone measures and stimulating innovation. The ultimate goal is to establish a “Dutch unmanned systems ecosystem”.
The strategy also includes a “comprehensive policy” on ethical and moral principles for the armed forces to determine how soldiers' use of new technologies complies with international law.
In related news, Lithuania's Ministry of Defence, together with the Defence Resources Agency, will allocate about €3 million to develop a drone for intercepting hostile unmanned aerial vehicles. Meanwhile, Latvia aims to reach the Ukrainian level of drone defence capability by the end of the year.
