A look at the Defence news 20 - 26 May
Armoured vehicles for Ukraine
In the near future, the Netherlands will supply YPR armoured vehicles to the Ukrainian armed forces.
This was announced by the Netherlands Minister of Defence, Kajsa Ollongren, during the Ukraine Defence Contact Group's online meeting last week. The announcement follows a request by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Ukrainian military personnel trained in the Netherlands for maintenance of F16s
Ten Ukrainian servicemen recently completed a training course in F-16 maintenance in the Netherlands. Previously, the Netherlands had pledged to make a minimum of 24 F-16s available to Ukraine. The fighter aircraft will need to be maintained, which was the reason for providing the training.
Command of NATO mission in Iraq in Dutch hands for the first time
On 24 May, Lieutenant General Cas Schreurs was appointed force commander of NATO Mission in Iraq (NMI) for a period of 1 year. In this role, the army general is tasked with steering the agreements made between participating NATO countries and the Iraqi government in the right direction.
Marines bring ‘evacuees’ to safety in Belgium
During a biennial evacuation exercise, 900 ‘evacuees’ were brought to safety in the border area of Belgium and France over the course of 72 hours. Around 40 marines took part in Exercise Storm Tide 2024.
Leading role for Defence during 2025 NATO summit in The Hague
In 2025, the annual NATO summit will take place at the World Forum in The Hague on 24, 25 and 26 June. It is the first time that the alliance's meeting is to be organised in the Netherlands. Some 10,000 military and other defence personnel will be deployed for security, military presence and transport tasks, among other things.
Special forces teach African forces to deal with threats
Last week, Netherlands military personnel from the Commando Corps and the Marine Corps provided training to military personnel from various African countries. The special forces did so at various locations in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana during the major military exercise Flintlock.
Missing man formation during commemoration at Margraten
In keeping with tradition, on 26 May American soldiers who lost their lives during the Second World War were commemorated at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten. During the commemoration ceremony, fighter aircraft flew over the cemetery in a missing man formation.