Incident Brief: Drone sightings in Belgium
- alessia988
- 30 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Incident Brief: Drone sightings in Belgium
On 03/10/2025, drones were spotted above the Belgium military base Elsenborn at the German border. Around 1.45pm, German authorities from the city Düren observed 15 drones.
On 26/10/2025, Reports mention an overnight sighting of five drones above the military barracks of Kamp Koning Albert (Camp King Albert), Marche-en-Famenne.
On 28/10/2025, another sighting of two drones was reported at Kamp Koning Albert (Camp King Albert), Marche-en-Famenne.
On 31/10/2025, Oostende airport briefly closed due to a suspected drone sighting.
On 01/11/2025, Drones were spotted above Kleine Brogel Airbase and Antwerp Airport.
On 04/11/2025, Drone sightings were reported at Brussels Zaventem Airport and Liege airport.
On 06/11/2025 drones were spotted above Brussels Airport, Liege airport and airbase Melsbroek. Air traffic was suspended around 9.20 p.m. for both commercial airports.
On 06/11/2025, The German Bundeswehr announced it would support Belgium by sending an anti-drone team after receiving a request for support from Belgium.
On the morning of 07/11/2025, Liege airport temporarily halted flight from 7 a.m. local time due to reports of a drone sighting.
On 07/11/2025, Belgium Minister of Defense announced on Social Media that a French anti-drone team would be deployed following the incursions over the past week.
On 08/11/2025, flight operations at Liege airport were halted around 7 p.m. due to drone sightings. After 30 minutes of disruption, flight operations resumed.
On 09/11/2025, again Liege airport temporarily halted flight operations starting from 7.30 p.m. This time, disruptions lasted until 8.30 p.m.
On 09/11/2025, The British Defense Ministry announced that it will deploy an anti-drone team in Belgium, after similar moves were made by France and Germany.
Update per 10/11:
Belgium is now focusing on improving resilience against drone incursions, given the recent events. It is receiving support from German, French and British units in fencing off these incursions. German defense minister, Boris Pistorius, suggested that the drone incursions are linked to the ongoing talks on using Russian frozen assets to aid Ukraine. Although this cannot be confirmed, the timing of these events coincides is interesting. Over the weekend, strategic sites in Belgium were also targeted, which may support this claim.
Impact on commercial aviation
Brussels Airlines announced that the outfall of flights following the incidents from 04/11 and 06/11 have led to significant economical impact for the flight carrier. With additional costs from flight delays and re-routes, including stranded passengers for that had to be accommodated.
In the morning of 07/11/2025, Liege airport was disrupted again around 7.a.m after reports of drones above FedEx facilities. Following procedures, the airport continued its operations from 8 a.m.
On 06/10/2025, an initial report of a drone was made around 7 p.m.. Brussels airport Zaventem halted operations from 9.20 pm after confirmation of a drone sighting. This time, only one flight was diverted to Amsterdam. A precautionary closure for airport Liege disrupted flight operations parallel to events at Zaventem that night.
On 04/11/2025, around 7.30 p.m. local time Skeyes ATC identified 3 drones at Brussels airport Zaventem. After an approximate hour of disruptions, the airport briefly continued operations around 9.15 p.m., but was closed again around 9.45 p.m. due to more drone sightings. Brussels airlines reported that 16 outbound flights were canceled and 6 inbound flights were diverted to Charleroi, which closed its airport briefly as a precautionary measure but did not report any drone sightings. Two flights, from Ryanair and SAS were also diverted. Parallel to the events in Brussel, Liege airport disrupted cargo air-traffic due to reports of a drone sighting.
ATC at Oostende suspended landing and takeoffs for 20 minutes as a precaution following the event on 31/10/2025. The incident involving Deurne airport on 01/11/2025 was reported around 7 p.m. local time. Skeyes ATC was unable to identify the drone after the initial report was made.
Intervention
The events from past weeks highlight increasing tensions. It is suggested that the perpetrator seeks to create disruptions and exploit the absence of counter measures, at least prior to 7/11/2025. As observed during similar events in Denmark, when the political agenda focuses on such issues and the authorities’ response increases, the situation slows down and eventually incursions stop, although future events cannot be excluded.
In response to the first incidents, an emergency meeting was held on 06/11/2025. As a result, Minister of Defense Theo Francken announced the installation of the National Air Security Center (NASC) in Bevekom. The centre in Bevekom is expected to be fully operational by the start of 2026. On top of that, Francken announced that support will be granted by the international community.
This was effectively the case, since Belgium requested the assistance of the German Bundeswehr after the incidents on 6-7/11/2025. On short notice, the first response unit arrived in the morning of 07/11/2025 tasked with assisting Belgium in both detection and defense systems (Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems). This indicates that similar episodes are likely to diminish in the upcoming week.
Moreover, Defense Minister Francken announced on 07/11/2025 that a French team would assist Belgium operators in facing new drone incursions and sightings. Following the incidents of the weekend, on 09/11/2025 British Chief of the Defense Staff Richard Knighton announced that Brittain will deploy an anti-drone team in Belgium, after similar pledges were made by France and Germany.
