Netherlands to build drone ecosystem under new defence strategy

The Netherlands plans to build its own ecosystem for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, to have drones and other autonomous platforms account for more than half of its operational combat effects within the next five years, its Ministry of Defence has stated.

The objective is set out in the ministry’s 2026 Defence White Paper, released on Monday, which places unmanned technology at the centre of the country's future military strategy after drawing lessons from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

“The Ministry of Defence will use unmanned systems wherever possible, with the ambition that within five years more than half of all operational effects will be achieved using unmanned systems,” the ministry said in its newly released 2026 Defence White Paper.

The strategy document, titled Together Forward!, outlines the Dutch armed forces' assessment of emerging security threats and their priorities for the coming years.

According to the more than 100-page report, the military will rely on a combination of advanced, cost-effective, replaceable and unmanned capabilities.

The policy shift follows recent conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, where both European and Gulf states have repeatedly deployed fighter jets to intercept hostile drones.

Since 2022, the Netherlands has sharply increased defence spending alongside countries such as Poland, Germany and the Baltic states. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has frequently pointed to those nations as examples of strong allied investment in defence.

According to NATO estimates, Dutch defence spending reached about 2.59% of GDP last year, placing the Netherlands among the alliance's top 10 members in terms of military expenditure as a share of economic output.

Beyond increasing defence funding, the government is also reshaping military doctrine to reflect the growing importance of drones on modern battlefields.

As part of the strategy, the Defence Ministry plans to establish a development laboratory in cooperation with industry partners to design and test counter-drone technologies while accelerating innovation. The broader objective is to build a “Dutch ecosystem for unmanned systems.”

The ministry has not yet announced when the new initiative will be formally launched.

The strategy also acknowledges the ethical challenges associated with autonomous weapons.

“Humans must be able to reasonably predict the effects of deploying unmanned weapon systems with autonomous functions,” the document states.

In addition, the government plans to introduce an “integrated policy” defining the ethical and moral framework for the armed forces, addressing how the use of emerging military technologies can remain consistent with international law.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov