Drones seen near airbase storing US nuclear weapons look like ‘espionage operation’, Belgium

Belgium’s defense minister expressed concern Monday about a series of unidentified drone flights over the weekend near a military base where American nuclear weapons are stored, saying they appear to be part of a spy operation.

Defense Minister Theo Francken confirmed that the drones had flown over the area near the Kleine Brogel air base in northeastern Belgium in two phases, on Saturday and Sunday night.

The first phase involved “small drones to test the radio frequencies” of the Belgian security services, then came “large drones to destabilize the area and the people,” Francken told public broadcaster RTBF.

“It seems like an espionage operation. By whom, I don’t know. I have some ideas but I’m going to be careful” with speculation, he said. Last month, several drones were seen above another Belgian military base near the German border. The operators were not identified.

Russia has been blamed for a series of airspace violations, especially over Estonia and Poland, in recent months. But it has been more difficult to locate the perpetrators of a series of mysterious drone flights in Denmark and Germany.

A late afternoon drone sighting at Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport on Friday suspended flights for almost two hours. It was not clear who was responsible. On Sunday, some flights were delayed at Bremen airport in Germany after a drone was spotted in the area, but police did not suspect espionage in that case, local media reported.

Francken ruled out that the weekend drone flights in Belgium could have been a joke. He said the security services’ jammer “didn’t work because they tested our radio frequency and changed the frequency. They have their own frequencies. An amateur doesn’t know how to do that.”

When asked why it was not possible to shoot down drones, Francken said: “When they are on a military base, we can shoot them down. When they are close, we have to be very careful because they can fall on a house, a car, a person. That is completely different.”

This can also pose legal challenges. “It is not entirely clear. We have to clarify the legal bases,” he said.

Francken lamented that Belgium “is pursuing the threat” posed by these drone flights. “Five or ten years ago we should have bought air defense systems” that can counter drones, he said.

In recent weeks, a series of mysterious drone flights have been detected in the airspace of member countries of the European Union.

In October, a Belgian official familiar with the matter confirmed to News themezone that drones had been sighted over the Elsenborn military base and said the number of drones was being investigated. Belgium is a member of the U.S.-led NATO military alliance, but the source told News themezone that only Belgian forces are stationed at the Elsenborn base.

Also last month, Germany’s Munich airport close twice in less than 24 hours after multiple drone sightings. An airport in Lithuania also later closed for several hours overnight Saturday due to a possible balloon sighting.

In September, the Danish Defense Ministry said drones had been “observed at several Danish defense facilities” overnight. Those drone sightings It comes after several drones were detected days earlier in the Nordic country, and some of them temporarily closed Danish airports.

Drones have also been seen near military sites in the US this year. The head of NORAD and NORTHCOM (the military commands that defend North America) told Congress earlier this year that some of the mysterious drones seen flying inside the United States in fact he may have been spying.