In a letter to Parliament dated 19 December, 2024 the Netherlands State Secretary for Defence Gijs Tuinman announced that the Defence Ministry is looking to procure personal drone-protection equipment for Royal Netherlands Army soldiers in the first quarter of 2025.
Tuinman referenced the ongoing war in Ukraine and recent developments in the Middle East as demonstrating the “acute and increasing deployment of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) on the battlefield.” Dutch units in the NATO Force Model (NFM), he continued, do not currently have the necessary equipment to protect against the growing drone threat – in particular the threat from small UAS at short range.
Tuinman wrote in his letter that currently “the Ministry of Defence has very limited resources for self-defence” against the threat from small UAS, with units largely dependent on personal weapons which have a “limited” hit probability due to drones’ small size, high speed and ability to hover.
In October 2024 the Ministry of Defence submitted a recommendation to Parliament, outlining plans to acquire new air defence systems as part of its comprehensive CITADEL program, delivering an integrated and layered air defence to combat larger UAS.
Tuinman’s letter in December 2024 focused on the procurement of personal C-UAS systems for the dismounted soldier, highlighting the need for Extended All Arms Air Defence to allow for “self-protection against smaller types of UAS up to 20 kg up to a minimum of 1,000 meters.” Troops are therefore able to protect themselves from small UAS without the intervention of specialist air defence units.
The Ministry plans to buy off-the-shelf equipment and spend between €50 million and €250 million on this latest procurement. The focus will be on technologies such as electro-optical aiming devices for personal weapons to significantly increase targeting accuracy, portable jammers to disrupt drone signals, and portable radio-frequency sensors to detect drone threats earlier.
The aim is the acquire these capabilities as soon as possible, with the Defence Ministry looking to sign a contract in February or March. The first deliveries would then occur in the following months and continue until 2028 and would be put into use immediately, being first delivered to units deployed near the front, including on NATO’s eastern flank.
Currently the Ministry of Defence is exploring the capabilities on the market, and so does not mention specific companies, though more information is expected on this soon.
Post Image Credit: NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency).
