Air defense, tanks top Dutch military's wish list

PARIS — Dutch top military leaders have a wish list for the next government: air defense, tanks and more military police.

More air defense systems is the number one priority, “no question about it,” Chief of Defence Gen. Otto Eichelsheim said in an interview with broadcaster NPO on April 4, flanked by his top generals. NATO is also counting on the Dutch to contribute tanks and more medical capability to the alliance, the commander said.

After decades of cost cuts, the next government of the European Union’s fifth-largest economy will have to boost defense spending beyond the NATO target of 2% of GDP to bring the military up to strength, according to Eichelsheim. Talks to form a new Dutch government are ongoing following elections in November, with the Cabinet of Prime Minister Mark Rutte in a caretaker role.

The Netherlands kicked off a defense budget hike in a 2022 policy paper , which allowed the armed forces to rebuild supplies and support roles that had been whittled down to such an extent that combat power couldn’t be sustained or deployed long-term, according to Eichelsheim. “So we invested in that first.”

“The next step has to be that you strengthen your combat power, while also still further building up your support capability,” Eichelsheim said. “Even with 2% we’ll still have to make choices. NATO has been asking more and more of us, the world is demanding more and more from us; 2% is just not enough.”

The Netherlands lifted its 2024 defense budget to €21.4 billion ($ 23.2 billion), or 1.95% of GDP, from €15.4 billion in 2023 and €12.9 billion in 2022. In this year’s budget, €7.9 billion is reserved for buying and maintenance of equipment.

Russia has managed to recover quickly from initial losses following the invasion of Ukraine, and has been building up its military , the Dutch commander said. “We worry a lot about the fact that they have that recovery power, and so we really have to make sure that we are fully ready for that. And we’re just not there yet.”

The top brass in a meeting around May last year concluded that “it’s going to go wrong and we don’t have much time,” according to Eichelsheim. He said Dutch military command has identified the biggest needs and put in place plans to strengthen the armed forces, also in view of NATO demands, with the current military assets “not nearly enough.”

Tanks “are very high on the wish list, but no political decision has yet been made,” Royal Netherlands Army Commander Lt. Gen. Jan Swillens said, adding that a heavy-armor capability would be important for future deployments. Long-range precision artillery and air defense, “resources that ten or fifteen years ago we thought we’d never need again,” are also high on the wish list, based on feedback from the war in Ukraine.

The Netherlands has been considering recreating its own tank battalion , having scrapped its heavy cavalry in 2011. The current defense budget doesn’t cover the costs of setting up a tank battalion, and the next government will have to decide on how much extra money will go to defense, and whether any of that will be spent on tanks.

The big concern among the Dutch top brass is that the Netherlands won’t be able to restore its military to full strength quickly enough in the face of an aggressive Russia, according to Lt Gen André Steur, head of the Royal Netherlands Air Force.

“Russia isn’t the only threat, but if you look at how quickly they are now able to recover, to get back to full war strength, as they were on February 24, 2022, we are all moving too slowly, and you actually see that throughout the alliance,” Steur said. “All of us here at the table want to prevent war. So the most important thing is that we’re able to deter war.”

The Netherlands will exercise in Poland with 4,500 troops this month, moving columns of equipment and personnel to Eastern Europe by road for the first time in years, and it no longer has enough military police to secure the columns, according to Swillens.

The Royal Marechaussee gendarmerie force, whose tasks include military police duties, is in the process of rebuilding to undo the damage of budget cuts, according to its commander Lt. Gen. Annelore Roelofs. “We really need more military police,” Roelofs said. “As the military continues to grow, and that’s going to happen, we need even more of that.”

Should the Netherlands get involved in a war on Europe’s eastern flanks, it will need gendarmerie forces to secure and protect forward-deployed units, said Eichelsheim. “We have the task, but we don’t have the people for it. So we have to fill all that back in.”

The smaller size of the Dutch armed forces makes sustaining a conflict harder, in a threat environment made more complex by Russia’s aggression but also conflict in the Middle East and terrorism, said Vice Adm. René Tas, commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The increased defense budget has provided breathing space, as troops can at least be provided with sufficient ammunition and new gear, he said.

The Netherlands can’t supply additional Patriot air-defense systems to Ukraine, as it is at the minimum deployment needed to protect Dutch ports, according to Eichelsheim. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the fourth-busiest airport in Europe, while Rotterdam is the continent’s biggest maritime port. The Netherlands previously supplied two Patriot launchers to Ukraine, as well as training.

Eichelsheim said the allies supporting Ukraine will have to find a solution for the Patriot shortfall, by going though their stockpiles to see what systems can still be assembled. “We see how important that air defense is in the face of Russian Federation attacks.”

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——荷兰最高军事领导人对下一届政府提出了一份愿望清单：防空系统、坦克和更多宪兵。

荷兰国防部长奥托·艾歇尔斯海姆将军4月4日在接受荷兰广播公司NPO采访时表示，增加防空系统是头等大事，“这一点毋庸置疑”。当时他身边站着几位高级将领。艾歇尔斯海姆将军还表示，北约也指望荷兰向联盟提供坦克和更多的医疗能力。

据艾歇尔斯海姆称，经过数十年的削减开支，欧盟第五大经济体荷兰的下一届政府将不得不把国防开支提高到北约规定的占GDP 2%的目标之上，才能使军队达到应有的水平。荷兰将于11月举行大选，目前组建新政府的谈判仍在进行中，首相马克·吕特领导的内阁目前担任看守政府职务。

据艾歇尔斯海姆称，荷兰在2022年的一份政策文件中启动了国防预算增长计划，这使得武装部队能够重建物资供应和后勤保障职能，这些职能此前已被大幅削减，以至于无法维持或长期部署作战能力。“所以我们首先投资于此。”

艾歇尔斯海姆说：“下一步必须是增强战斗力，同时进一步提升支援能力。即使只有2%的份额，我们仍然需要做出选择。北约对我们的要求越来越高，世界对我们的要求也越来越高；2%远远不够。”

荷兰将2024年国防预算提高至214亿欧元（232亿美元），占GDP的1.95%，高于2023年的154亿欧元和2022年的129亿欧元。在今年的预算中，79亿欧元将用于购买和维护装备。

这位荷兰指挥官表示，俄罗斯在入侵乌克兰后迅速从最初的损失中恢复过来，并一直在加强军事建设。“我们非常担心他们拥有这种恢复能力，所以我们必须确保做好充分的准备来应对这种情况。但我们目前还没有达到那个水平。”

据艾歇尔斯海姆称，去年五月左右，高层在一次会议上得出结论：“情况会变得很糟糕，而且我们时间不多了。” 他说，荷兰军方指挥部已经确定了最大的需求，并制定了加强武装力量的计划，同时也考虑到了北约的要求，因为目前的军事资源“远远不够”。

荷兰皇家陆军司令扬·斯维伦斯中将表示，坦克“是荷兰军队最迫切的需求之一，但尚未做出任何政治决定”。他还补充说，重型装甲能力对于未来的部署至关重要。远程精确火炮和防空系统——“十年前或十五年前我们认为永远不再需要的资源”——也位列荷兰军队的迫切需求清单之中，这是根据乌克兰战争的反馈而得出的结论。

荷兰一直在考虑重建自己的坦克营，此前该国于 2011 年解散了重骑兵部队。目前的国防预算不足以支付组建坦克营的费用，下届政府将不得不决定向国防追加多少资金，以及其中是否会有资金用于购买坦克。

荷兰皇家空军司令安德烈·施特尔中将表示，荷兰高层最担心的是，面对咄咄逼人的俄罗斯，荷兰可能无法迅速恢复其全部军事实力。

“俄罗斯并非唯一的威胁，但看看他们现在恢复的速度，看看他们是如何迅速恢复到2022年2月24日时的全面战争实力，我们所有人的行动都太慢了，而且这种现象在整个联盟中都普遍存在，”施特尔说道。“我们所有人都希望避免战争。因此，最重要的是我们能够遏制战争。”

据斯威伦斯称，荷兰本月将在波兰进行演习，届时将有 4500 名士兵出动，多年来首次通过公路向东欧运送装备和人员，但荷兰已没有足够的宪兵来保护这些队伍。

皇家宪兵队（其职责包括宪兵任务）正在重建，以弥补预算削减造成的损失。该部队指挥官安妮洛尔·罗洛夫斯中将表示：“我们确实需要更多宪兵。随着军队的持续扩张（而这势在必行），我们需要更多的宪兵。”

艾歇尔斯海姆表示，如果荷兰卷入欧洲东翼的战争，就需要宪兵部队来确保和保护前沿部署部队的安全。“我们有这项任务，但我们人手不足。所以我们必须重新填补这一缺口。”

荷兰皇家海军司令雷内·塔斯中将表示，荷兰武装部队规模较小，在俄罗斯的侵略、中东冲突和恐怖主义等因素加剧的复杂威胁环境下，维持战争更加困难。他指出，国防预算的增加提供了喘息之机，至少能够为部队提供充足的弹药和新装备。

据艾歇尔斯海姆称，荷兰无法向乌克兰提供更多“爱国者”防空系统，因为其部署规模已达到保护荷兰港口所需的最低限度。阿姆斯特丹史基浦机场是欧洲第四繁忙的机场，而鹿特丹港则是欧洲最大的海港。荷兰此前曾向乌克兰提供过两套“爱国者”导弹发射装置以及相关培训。

艾歇尔斯海姆表示，支持乌克兰的盟国必须找到解决“爱国者”导弹系统短缺的办法，他们需要检查库存，看看哪些系统还能组装。“我们清楚地看到，面对俄罗斯联邦的袭击，防空系统有多么重要。”

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。