Drones seen near US nuclear facility in Belgium for second time this week

Residents of the nearby town of Peer reported seeing six drones of unknown origin flying in the area.

The mayor of the town, Steven Mathey, reported that between 6:30 and 7:00 p.m., police received notifications from several residents about unknown drones.

Police arrived at the scene but were only able to visually identify two drones.

The federal police dispatched a helicopter to search the area, but it found nothing and quickly returned, the mayor said.

This is the second incident in a week of unknown drones appearing over Kleine-Brogel Air Base. The first sighting occurred on the night of November 1.

At that time, police were called to the scene, but also found nothing.

This military base stores US nuclear weapons and will soon host an F-35 fighter jet base.

Belgian military response

As RBC-Ukraine reported, after the first drone incident over Kleine-Brogel Air Base, Belgium’s Defense Minister Theo Francken stated that the drones had been spying on fighter jets and ammunition.

He did not directly blame Russia but hinted that he saw no other likely perpetrators violating Belgian airspace.

Two days later, the Chief of Staff of the Belgian Army, Frédéric Vansina, ordered soldiers to shoot down suspicious drones, but only in a safe manner - that is, without causing collateral damage.

According to Vansina, Belgium’s program to improve drone defense is now being accelerated.

Media reports indicate that the arms manufacturer FN Herstal has been asked to supply the Ministry of Defense with specialized anti-drone rifles as soon as possible.

Drone at Brussels Airport

Also on the evening of Tuesday, November 4, air traffic at Brussels Airport was halted for safety reasons following the appearance of an unknown drone. The flight suspension lasted about an hour before operations resumed.