The UK has sent an RAF regiment to Belgium to bring down suspected Russian drones which have been wreaking havoc in the country’s airspace.
The specialist counter-drone unit has been deployed along with signal jamming equipment in response to a request from the Belgian government for Nato allies to help deal with the incursion.
Belgium’s main airport, Zavantem, was forced to temporarily close on Thursday after drones were spotted nearby. Drones were also identified at other locations, including a military base.
The i Paper understands that the RAF troops will not ‘kinetically’ shoot down drones using anti-aircraft guns.
Instead, the specialist counter-Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) unit uses technology to jam and interrupt the electronic signals that drones require to keep operating.
It follows cases in recent months of drones causing major disruption to airports in other European countries, including Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
While Russia has denied involvement, the German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and the Belgian security services have said they suspect the country is involved.
On Sunday, the new chief of the defence staff, Sir Richard Knighton, confirmed that Britain was sending assistance to help Belgium.
He told the BBC’s Sunday Morning With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “The Defence Secretary (John Healey) and I agreed at the end of last week that we would deploy our people, our equipment to Belgium to help them.”
“It is important to be clear, though, that 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,” he said.
How ‘rogue’ drones can be brought down by specialist troops
Personnel study a screen during an anti drone exercise involving Nato member states in Latvia last August (Photo by Gints Ivuskans / AFP)Drones can be detected using a range of technologies including acoustic sensors that listen out for their noise, advanced cameras and tactical radars capable of spotting them from long distances.
Once a drone has been identified, they can be targeted with jamming technology.
Jammers blast radio signals on the same frequencies used to control drones, causing their operators to lose contact with them.
The technology can also prevent drones from connecting to a GPS signal, throwing the vehicles off course.
However, some drones are controlled using unspooling fibre-optic wire, which is impervious to radio frequency jamming.
To deal with this threat, the US, UK and other countries are developing weapons which can take-out drones with microwave radiation.
Sir Richard added the UK and its 31 Nato allies “will work to support each other, and that’s why the Defence Secretary and I are very happy to see UK military personnel deployed to support Belgium”.
In a statement, Healey said: “When our NATO allies call, we step up. Belgium requested urgent support to counter rogue drone activity at their military bases, so I’ve directed a small team of RAF specialists to deploy immediately.
“As hybrid threats grow, our strength lies in our alliances and our collective resolve to defend, deter and protect our critical infrastructure and airspace.”
The deployment comes amid growing tensions between Nato and Russia, and warnings from British military figures that the UK must improve its war readiness.
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In an article for The Telegraph, Knighton said the war in Ukraine was a reminder that “defence is not the responsibility of the military alone”. “It is a national endeavour. It requires investment, innovation and the support of a society that understands the stakes,” he said.
He told Sky News that in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin was “seeing his war aims eroded” despite spending around 40 per cent of Russia’s national income on defence and losing over a million casualties.
He said: “I think right now we should be confident that Nato is stronger and more capable than Russia and that Russia is losing from a strategic perspective, even if it’s making tactical gains on the ground in Ukraine.”
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