London — Britain is sending anti-drone equipment and personnel to Belgium after a spate of sightings near airports and military bases, the head of the U.K. military said Sunday.
While Belgium and the U.K. have not accused anyone of flying the unidentified drones, they're the latest in a growing trend of airspace violations by mysterious aircraft in about half of a dozen European nations, including around NATO military bases, that at least one U.S. ally calls part of escalating Russian "hybrid warfare."
In the past week Belgium's main international airport in Brussels and one of Europe's biggest cargo airports, near the Belgian city of Liege, were forced to close temporarily because of drone incursions. Before that, authorities reported a series of unidentified drone flights near a military base in Belgium where U.S. nuclear weapons are stored.U.S. troop drawdown in Europe brings anxiety, GOP rebuke
Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton, the head of Britain's armed forces, said over the weekend that the U.K. had agreed to "deploy our people, our equipment to Belgium to help them," after a request from Belgian authorities.
"We don't know — and the Belgians don't yet know — 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," Knighton told the BBC.
U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said the U.K. was sending a team of Royal Air Force specialists to NATO ally Belgium "to counter rogue drone activity."
"As hybrid threats grow, our strength lies in our alliances and our collective resolve to defend, deter and protect our critical infrastructure and airspace," he said.
Drones plague European airports amid rising tension with Russia
Drone incidents across Europe have forced airports to suspend flights many times in recent months. While Belgium has not said who it believes is operating the drones, Russia has been blamed in some cases by other NATO allies.
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