Dutch to cobble together mobile anti-drone system to plug C-UAS hole

PARIS – The Netherlands plans to cobble collectively an air-defense system by becoming a remote-controlled weapon system on wheeled armor to offer its infantry items with cellular anti-drone capability, plugging a functionality hole forward of the primary supply of Rheinmetall’s Skyranger 30 in 2028.

The Dutch want counter unmanned aerial methods or C-UAS that may be delivered shortly in response to the rising drone menace, State Secretary for Defence Gijs Tuinman wrote in a letter to parliament on Monday. The brand new methods are a part of €1 billion to €2.5 billion of further spending on counter-drone tools.

With drones now reportedly accounting for almost all of front-line casualties in Ukraine, European nations are scrambling for stop-gap measures to guard floor troops from the rising menace, forward of the arrival of specialised tools such because the Skyranger. France not too long ago developed the Proteus anti-drone system, utilizing a Seventies period 20mm anti-air cannon mounted on a Nineteen Eighties four-wheel truck.

“The significance of counter-UAS capabilities for combating unmanned methods is appreciable,” Tuinman wrote. “The Ministry of Defence is due to this fact investing in further C-UAS sources and in that is incorporating classes from the warfare in Ukraine.”

The brand new Dutch cellular anti-drone methods shall be put collectively from numerous army off-the-shelf parts together with a wheeled armor car, remote-controlled weapon station, ammunition and fight administration methods, the Ministry of Defence stated.

The MoD declined to touch upon supply dates or deliberate numbers, citing operational safety, in response to questions from Protection Information. The ministry will purchase new methods and parts however received’t touch upon suppliers for now, and remains to be investigating which firm will combine the system, stated Jiska Put up, a spokesman for the state secretary for defence.

The Netherlands has ordered 22 Skyranger 30 methods, with the primary deliveries deliberate for 2028. The extra cellular anti-drone methods will stay in service after supply of the Rheinmetall air-defense cannons, the MoD stated.

Europe faces rising unidentified-drone exercise, and up to date incidents with Russian drones in Romania and Poland, in addition to small and low-cost drones noticed over important infrastructure in NATO companions are “worrisome developments,” Tuinman stated.

The Netherlands over the weekend reported unidentified drones flying over Volkel Air Base and Eindhoven Airport, becoming a member of round a dozen of European nations which have reported unidentified drones, incursions or airspace violations in latest months, with Russia linked to numerous them.

The Dutch additionally plan to purchase IRIS anti-drone radars, all-terrain patrol automobiles with an built-in remote-controlled weapon system, further man-portable and vehicle-mounted C-UAS methods, in addition to spend money on interceptor drones, the MoD stated.

The ministry additionally plans to spend money on hard-kill C-UAS for the Royal Netherlands Navy, Tuinman wrote in a separate letter to parliament. A lot of the present maritime anti-drone methods are both primarily based on soft-kill measures corresponding to jamming, or use costly kinetic counters corresponding to missiles, the state secretary stated.

“There’s due to this fact a functionality hole between, on the one hand, defending items that don’t themselves have a kinetic system for taking out unmanned aerial methods and, however, build up a layered self protection of naval vessels to complement the close-in weapon and soft-kill methods,” Tuinman stated.

The deliberate functionality would fall someplace between small-caliber short-range self protection and long-range missiles, with the latter an costly functionality accessible in solely a restricted quantity, in keeping with the MoD. The deliberate funding is between €250 million and €1 billion, with particulars anticipated to be supplied to parliament within the spring of 2026, the ministry stated.

“A protection system in opposition to medium-range threats from unmanned methods is due to this fact an pressing want that can enhance the survivability of our crusing items,” Tuinman stated.