PARIS — The Royal Netherlands Army plans to equip its soldiers with personal drone-protection gear, including targeting lasers and portable sensors,

Dutch army to equip its soldiers with personal drone-protection kits

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2024-12-25 16:00:06

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.”