The military has not gone into details about the sort of equipment or number of personnel that will be sent.<\/p>\n
Published On 9 Nov 20259 Nov 2025<\/p>\n
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The United Kingdom is sending military equipment and personnel to Belgium after a spate of disruptive drone sightings forced the temporary closures of two major airports.<\/p>\n
Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton told the BBC network on Sunday that the military had agreed to \u201cdeploy our people, our equipment to Belgium to help them\u201d after a request from Belgian authorities.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe don\u2019t know \u2013 and the Belgians don\u2019t yet know \u2013 the source of those drones, but we will help them by providing our kit and capability, which has already started to deploy to help Belgium,\u201d said Knighton, who did not give details about what sort of equipment would be sent or how many personnel.<\/p>\n
In the past week, both Belgium\u2019s main international airport at Brussels and one of Europe\u2019s biggest cargo airports at Liege were forced to close<\/a> temporarily because of drone incursions. That came after a series of unidentified drone flights near a United States military base in Belgium where nuclear weapons are stored.<\/p>\n Belgium\u2019s Liege airport resumed operations on Sunday evening after a 30-minute suspension due to a drone sighting, a spokesperson for the Skeyes air traffic control service said.<\/p>\n Drone sightings also forced the temporary closures of airports in other countries, including Sweden, on Thursday. The Belgian government held an emergency meeting<\/a> to address the drone sightings.<\/p>\n Knighton said it was not known yet who was behind the drone sightings but noted Russia has been involved in a pattern of \u201chybrid warfare\u201d in recent years.<\/p>\n Russia has been blamed in some cases, but Belgium has not said who has been operating the drones. Russia has denied any connection with the incidents, and there has been no evidence to directly link the drones to Russia.<\/p>\n Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken said he believed some incidents were part of \u201ca spying operation\u201d that could not have been done by amateurs.<\/p>\n Drone incidents have also caused major disruptions across Europe in recent months amid deepening concerns that Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine might spill across Europe\u2019s borders. Since September, drones have been spotted near civilian airports and military facilities in countries including Denmark<\/a>, Germany and Norway.<\/p>\n European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called the incursions \u201chybrid warfare\u201d. While she did not hold Russia responsible for the incidents, she said it was clear Russia\u2019s aim was to \u201csow division\u201d in Europe.<\/p>\n