A look at the Defence news 2 - 8 September
The Defence Whitepaper was published last week. Defence will invest heavily in the contribution to the NATO alliance, in attracting and retaining personnel, in the production of military equipment and in innovation.
Ammunition and maintenance for Ukrainian F-16s
The Netherlands is going to provide maintenance equipment and materials for Ukraine’s F-16s, as well as air-to-air missiles that the aircraft can use to defend Ukrainian airspace.
Trainee weapons instructors make training flights over the Netherlands
Twenty-nine course participants from Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway began the second part of their weapons instructor training last week. Among them are pilots, officers and NCOs from other disciplines. In recent months, they took theory lessons and took part in practical exercises in Norway. Last week, they started the second part of the highly regarded training programme at Leeuwarden Air Base in the Netherlands.
Dutch F-35s take over airspace surveillance from Belgium
The Quick Reaction Alert task is back in Dutch hands. This means that, over the coming months, Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35s will be on stand-by to guard the airspace of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
MIVD warning: Russians target Western aid to Ukraine
The Netherlands Military Intelligence and Security Service has issued a warning against Russian cyber operations carried out by GRU unit 29155. The focus of this Russian military intelligence unit's hackers is, among other things, to identify and disrupt Western aid to Ukraine. Their operations mainly target Western governments and critical infrastructure.