A look at the Defence news 10-15 February
At a NATO meeting in Brussels last week, Netherlands Minister of Defence Ruben Brekelmans announced that the two Dutch MQ-9 Reapers in Romania would remain there until the end of September, six months longer than planned.
The RNLASF uses the unmanned aircraft to collect intelligence at NATO’s eastern flank. The aircraft are controlled and the intelligence processed from the Netherlands. An air force unit in Romania provides maintenance and security for the MQ’9.
Weapons, ammunition, materiel and F-16 simulators for Ukraine
Ukraine is in urgent need of additional striking power. The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden are therefore stepping up their support with a new supply of American weapons, materiel and ammunition. This is being provided through the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative. The Netherlands will also supply F-16 simulators.
Dutch instructors provide StartCom crash course in Korea
At the special request of the Americans, military personnel from the Dutch Mobile Training Team provided a crash course in StratCom in South Korea last week. The training course was provided to three headquarters: the United Nations Command (UNC), the United States Forces in Korea (USFK) and the Combined Forces Command (CFC). The UNC monitors compliance with the 1953 ceasefire agreement on the Korean Peninsula.