The United Kingdom is sending experts and defence equipment to assist Belgium following a series of drone detections. British Army Chief Richard Knighton confirmed the information on Sunday (9 November), according to a Reuters report.
Over the past week, several drones have been seen in the skies over different Belgian airports and military bases. Such drones have disrupted air travel across Europe in recent months.
Knighton said that the British personnel and equipment are being deployed at the request of Belgium’s military chief. “At the end of last week, the Defence Minister and I agreed that we would send our personnel and equipment to support them,” he added.
However, the British Army Chief did not disclose what types of equipment were being sent or how many troops were involved. He noted that it is still unclear who is behind these drones. But in recent years, Russia has followed a pattern of hybrid warfare.
Russia has denied any involvement in the incidents.
After drones were spotted over the airspace of Brussels and Liège airports, many flights had to be diverted on Tuesday, and some were suspended. Additionally, on Thursday, airports in Sweden and several other countries had to temporarily halt flights due to drone sightings.
Germany’s Defence Minister said on Friday that the recent drone incidents in Belgium may be linked to discussions about providing Ukraine with a large loan using frozen Russian assets held at Euroclear, a Belgian financial institution.
