Drone incidents are increasing in both Germany and neighboring countries. Bremen airport was recently closed. Last night, a police helicopter was supposed to be scrambled over a NATO base in Belgium, according to "Spiegel", BTA reports.
A month ago, it seemed that Northern Europe - and especially Scandinavia - was the focus of attention, but now drone sightings are shifting somewhat south.
Several drones were spotted over the Belgian military base "Kleine Bruegel", used by NATO, over the weekend. The military and police spotted four drones last night, as reported by the Belgian news agency Belga. A police helicopter tried to chase them, but after a while they disappeared north towards the Netherlands.
Drones have been spotted over the military base several times before. At night, "larger models at a higher altitude" not only flew over the military base, but also took action against it, wrote Belgian Defense Minister Theo Franken on the "Ex" platform. According to him, equipment was used, unsuccessfully, to disrupt communications. "A helicopter and police cars chased a drone but lost it after a few kilometers."
There will be a meeting with the police next week to analyze the threat and take the necessary measures to find and arrest the drone pilots, Franken wrote on Saturday.
NATO forwarded the inquiry about the drone sightings to the Belgian authorities. "Spiegel" recalls that the Kleine Bruegel base was part of NATO's annual maneuvers to protect the alliance's territory with nuclear weapons with about 2,000 soldiers in October. According to unconfirmed reports, the air base is one of the places in Europe where American nuclear weapons are stored.
A drone was also spotted over Antwerp airport on Saturday evening, Belga reported, citing police.
There was also an incident in Germany. Air traffic at Bremen airport had to be temporarily suspended last night because of a drone. The aircraft was spotted at around 7:30 p.m. in the immediate vicinity of the airport, a police spokesman in the city said. As a result, air traffic control, in agreement with the federal police, temporarily suspended takeoffs and landings.
Air traffic resumed about an hour later. According to police, it is still unclear who was flying the drone.
"Spiegel" notes that on Friday evening, flights from Berlin's main airport were suspended for almost two hours after a drone was spotted. In early October, flights from Munich airport were temporarily suspended for the same reason.
The drone incident over the Kleine Bruegel base marked the second night of such activity, the Belgian defense minister said, describing the incident as a "blatant attack," the Frankfurter Rundschau reported. The concern comes amid allegations that the Belgian military base houses US tactical nuclear weapons. Analysts say Kleine Bruegel is one of the few European military bases that houses American tactical weapons: an estimated 10 to 15 B-61 nuclear bombs that can be delivered by nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets.
Belgian authorities, like those in other European countries, have reported several drone sightings in recent months, the newspaper recalls. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were spotted over the Elsenborn barracks on the Belgian-German border in early October, and later that month over military facilities in Marche-en-Fame in the southeast of the country.
The United States has an estimated 200 tactical nuclear weapons, about half of which are located in Europe. It is believed that about 100 tactical bombs are stored at five NATO bases on the continent, including those in Turkey, Germany and Belgium. Unlike strategic weapons, tactical nuclear weapons are intended for use on the battlefield or within a specific conflict zone.
"Euronews" expands on the information, stating that over the weekend drones were spotted over the military grounds of Leopoldburg and Marche-en-Famenne, as well as over the airports of Dörn and Ostend. The media outlet recalls that last month 15 unidentified drones were spotted flying over the Elsenborn military base near the German border.
It is still unclear whose drones are causing chaos in the Old Continent, CNN points out. Speaking about the latest incidents, the television quoted Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken as saying that Russia "is trying to do this in all European countries," but stopped short of directly accusing Moscow. "Is it the Russians? I can't say, but the motives are clear," he said.
"The war is really a drone war and the defense ministry really needs to prepare for that," Politico quoted the Belgian defense minister as saying. According to the publication, Francken is expected to present a 50 million euro plan next week to deploy a national anti-drone system. He said on Radio 1 that the package would fund systems to detect, jam and shoot down drones to protect key sites.