After years of debate, the Belgian House Committee on National Defence on Wednesday approved a resolution to arm the Belgian Army's drone fleet in the future.
The five parties negotiating the current Federal 'Arizona' Government (N-VA, Vooruit, CD&V, MR and Les Engagés), Open VLD and Vlaams Belang and Open VLD voted in favour. PS and Ecolo-Groen abstained and PVDA voted against it.
In 2019, the army bought so-called SkyGuardian drones under then-Defence Minister Steven Vandeput (N-VA). In principle, those aircraft can be armed and Vandeput also kept that option open, but there was no agreement on it in the previous legislature.
The left wing of the now-outgoing Federal 'Vivaldi' Government opposed it. In the meantime, however, relations have shifted somewhat.
No brainer
Vooruit had an amendment added to the resolution by MP Peter Buysrogge (N-VA) that provides that the deployment of armed drones is always under human control.
According to Vooruit MP Axel Weydts, this has made the adoption of the resolution a "no brainer," he told the Chamber on Wednesday. "It would be incredibly unwise to let the Defence Ministry lag behind our partner countries and enemies, also for the safety of the troops we might deploy in foreign operations."
Kjell Vander Elst (Open VLD) also thought so. "My group has been in favour for years. The approval is a no brainer," he said. For Leentje Grillaert (CD&V), the Belgian Army cannot be left behind, although she, too, stressed the importance of human operators deciding on targets and possible elimination.
Belgian army drone. Credit: Belga/Benoit Doppagne
Grillaert also called for additional research into evidence that drone pilots are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress.
The Flemish far-right Vlaams Belang also agreed with the resolution. Groen MP Staf Aerts abstained, saying it did not take into account Groen amendments to the text. He warned of the "threshold-lowering effect" of drones. "It is much more difficult to pilot an F-16 than an unmanned aircraft."
Francophone socialist PS also abstained from the vote, while the Belgian Workers' Party (PTB-PVDA) voted against it.
Meanwhile, Buysrogge called for further investment in smaller drone systems and new defence strategies against drone attacks. "Our security depends on our willingness to look ahead. This approval is already a step in the right direction."
