Belgian Defense Minister on drone activity: It looks like a spy operation

The recent drone activity in Belgium looks like an espionage operation, according to Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken. The head of the Belgian defense ministry was quoted by the media Le Soir.

He said the investigation into the drone activity is ongoing. Franken saw "a pretty similar approach" over the course of three days.

"On the first day, they came with small drones. On Saturday and Sunday, it was mostly larger drones to destabilize the area and the people. I think they are trying to create panic in Belgium. It looks like an espionage operation," added the country's defense minister.

However, the investigation, which has not yet yielded any results, has not identified the perpetrators. Franken believes that the drones were operated by professionals, not amateurs.

He noted that "the drones always arrive at the same time," at night. When asked whether Belgium could shoot down these drones, the minister replied: "When they are over a military base, we can shoot down drones. But when they are close by, we have to be very careful. They can fall on a house, a car or a civilian. We need to clarify this legal framework."

Franken stated the need to invest in air defense, with a focus on drone defense.

"We haven't done anything for years, and now we have a huge backlog, and I've tried to do a lot in the last nine months. But I can't do everything. We really need to strengthen our anti-drone capabilities," the minister added.

According to him, this week the Belgian government plans to consider a plan to combat UAVs. In particular, they will consider investing 50 million euros in a detection system.

"But we also need time: we cannot fix in a few months what has not been done in previous years," summarized the head of the Belgian Defense Ministry.

• On October 3, 2025, over the Elsenborn military base in Belgium, located near the German border, 15 drones were spotted.
• On November 2, Franken stated that unidentified drones flew over the Kleine Brogel military airbase.