PARIS — The Royal Netherlands Army plans to equip its soldiers with personal drone-protection gear, including targeting lasers and portable sensors, in an effort to counter the threat of small unmanned aircraft systems that has transformed battlefields.
The war in Ukraine and developments in the Middle East show the drone threat is acute, and Dutch troops currently lack the requisite equipment to effectively protect themselves, State Secretary for Defence Gijs Tuinman wrote in a letter to parliament last week. Given the urgency, the Defence Ministry is looking to buy anti-drone kit in the first quarter of 2025.
Russian and Ukrainian troops battle under a constant buzz of drones that observe any movement, while first-person-view drones target individual soldiers on the move, in foxholes or through the hatches of armored vehicles. While Western armies are unfamiliar with such fighting conditions, they are rushing to adapt.
“Military personnel may increasingly face attacks or unwanted reconnaissance using small unmanned systems, including drones,” Tuinman wrote in his letter. “The ability to take out UAS is essential to the security of our military and the missions and tasks they perform.”
While the Netherlands is turning to layered air-defense systems for larger drones, combating small and inexpensive drones with such systems is neither efficient nor effective, according to Tuinman. Instead, soldiers mostly rely on personal weapons or standard weapon systems, with “limited” hit probability due to drones’ small size, high speed and ability to hover, he said.
The Dutch defense department plans to spend between €50 million and €250 million to buy the personal anti-drone kit. Envisioned technologies include electro-optical aiming devices for personal weapons, such as targeting lasers, which would significantly increase targeting accuracy against small drones at a distance of 200 meters.
Other kit includes portable jammers to disrupt drone signals, and portable radio-frequency sensors that allow for earlier spotting of a possible drone threat. Experiments with C-UAS assets show that there’s no one single asset that will effectively address the threat of small drones, Tuinman said.
The higher accuracy using the aiming aids will “significantly” reduce ammo use to combat drone threats, while portable jammers make it possible to combat the threat by alternative means, according to the letter.
The Dutch plan to buy off-the-shelf equipment, and several suitable systems exist on the market, according to Tuinman. The ministry declined to provide details on which companies might supply the equipment.
The defense department will look at what options are available to acquire the capability as soon as possible, with the aim of signing a contract to buy the equipment in February or March, and the first deliveries in the following months, and continuing through to 2028.
The Netherlands will initially focus on equipping its units deployed near the front, including NATO’s eastern borders. Russian drones have violated the airspace of NATO allies several times recently, and soldiers may be confronted with drones conducting attacks or gathering intelligence during missions or exercises, Tuinman said.
With the rapid development of both drones and countermeasures, the ministry expects any assets it’s buying for so-called “extended all-arms air defense” to have an operational lifespan of no more than 10 years, and it plans to keep budget in reserve to replace the anti-drone equipment.
The Netherlands in September organized a NATO counter-UAS exercise, in which 19 allies and three partner nations including Ukraine tested more than 60 systems and technologies to detect and neutralize drones, including jammers and sensors.
The user base of such equipment is growing, with Belgium recently establishing a framework contract through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency for portable jammers and sensors, while Germany and the U.K. are buying electro-optical targeting assets, according to Tuinman.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.
