European air defense manufacturer Thales Belgium has reported an increase in the number of unidentified drones flying over its secret factories.
Points of attention
- Thales Belgium witnesses a rise in the number of unidentified drones flying over its defense plant, prompting concerns about security and surveillance.
- The company is planning to increase its missile production capacity to manufacture up to 70,000 missiles over the next few years, following increased demand for its products.
- Thales Belgium has implemented drone detection systems at its facilities and has the capability to jam drone signals, although legal restrictions prevent them from doing so.
Unidentified drones fly over Thales defense plant in Belgium
"We are seeing more drones than a few months ago," said Alain Kevrin, director of Thales Belgium in Belgium.
He said unidentified drones were monitoring the Évegnée Fort facility in the eastern region of the city of Liège. It is the only facility in Belgium where the company has a license to assemble and store explosives for its 70mm rockets.
Alain Kevrin stressed that the company is "concerned about these events." According to him, the increase in the number of drones comes against the backdrop of the company's desire to double its production capacity for the production of unguided and guided FZ275 missiles in order to reach production volumes of up to 70,000 units over the next few years.
He also stressed that since the drone invasion of Poland, Thales has received dozens of requests for its missiles. It should be noted that they support NATO standards, which allows them to be used in existing weapons systems.
The director also said that Thales Belgium already has drone detection systems installed at its facilities. In addition, the company can use jammers to suppress the UAV signal, but this is not done yet, because "we are not allowed to do this — from a legal point of view," Alain Kevrin noted. One reason for the fear is that a downed drone could cause damage or injury to people.
Alain Kevrin believes that the Belgian government needs to clearly define the correct actions for such cases, in particular, to articulate where the responsibilities of the police end and the responsibilities of companies begin.
According to Politico, the missiles, which are manufactured at the Évegnée Fort and Erstal plants, can be used against drones, with the laser-guided version targeting larger, high-altitude drones, such as the Russian Shahed.
Recall that these missiles have the FZ123 warhead, they are already in use in Ukraine. According to Thomas Colinet, Director of Vehicles and Tactical Systems at Thales Belgium, Kyiv's demand for them exceeds what the company can produce.
