Belgium investigates drones over Kleine Brogel air base

Belgian authorities are investigating a series of unidentified drone flights over the Kleine Brogel air base in northeast Belgium that were reported late on Oct. 31 and on consecutive nights afterward, Defence Minister Theo Francken said. The incidents, which also involved drone sightings near other military sites and civilian airports in Belgium over the same weekend, prompted a police and military response but no interceptions were reported.

Francken said the ministry received three reports of drones over Kleine Brogel on Saturday night and that a similar multiple-drone incident occurred the previous nights. A helicopter and police vehicles pursued one of the devices but lost contact after several kilometres. A deployed radio-frequency jammer failed to stop the flights, Francken added, saying the drones appeared to have been operating on different frequencies. "It was not a regular overflight, but a clear mission targeting Kleine Brogel," he wrote on social media.

Officials said the flights raised security concerns because Kleine Brogel is widely believed to host U.S. nuclear weapons under NATO sharing arrangements and is scheduled to receive F-35 fighter jets beginning in...