Belgium to add F-35s, spend billions on anti-air in defense catch-up

PARIS — Belgium will buy more F-35s, a third frigate and spend billions of euros on air defense as part of an updated strategic plan approved by the government on Friday, with the country seeking to fix capability gaps after decades of being one of NATO’s lowest spenders on defense.

Belgium’s military requires a “thorough transformation” to create a force fit to deter and for high-intensity warfare rather than expeditionary missions, Defence Minister Theo Francken wrote in a foreword to the 100-plus-page Strategic Vision 2025 report . In addition to more hardware, the plan calls for raising the number of military personnel by around a third by 2034.

“A country like Belgium can only remain free and sovereign by aligning itself with loyal and powerful partners,” Francken said. “And we can only count on their loyalty if we are prepared to show solidarity in their defense.”

The new Belgian government earlier this year agreed to lift defense spending to 2% of GDP, for a budget of €12.8 billion (US$14.9 billion) in 2025, breaking with decades lingering at the bottom of NATO’s defense-spending tables. The country allocated an estimated 1.29% of GDP to defense in 2024, with only Spain doing worse.

As part of the strategic plan published on Friday, Belgium is budgeting €34.8 billion in capacity commitments for 2026-2034, with €24.7 billion of the funds to be spent over the period.

“Through concrete commitments, the government aims to restore the country’s diplomatic credibility,” Francken said. “It’s against this backdrop that this new strategic vision has been approved by the government.”

The current defense budget can’t patch all the gaps left by years of under-investment, and Belgium will focus on priority areas, according to the report. Those include making its medium motorized brigade fully operational, creating layered air defenses, building up ammo supplies to ensure readiness, adding air-combat capability and expanding maritime surface-combat capacity.

Planned purchases include an additional 11 F-35 fighters for a budget of €1.67 billion, with orders planned next year. Belgium has already ordered 34 of the jets, with eight delivered so far and the entire fleet expected to be operational early 2031.

High-intensity operations and new threats such as drones and hypersonic missiles make strengthening the air force component “absolutely necessary,” while the war in Ukraine has demonstrated the need for air power to avoid a stalemate, according to the report.

Belgium currently lacks any ground-based missile defense, and will buy 10 NASAMS systems from Kongsberg for €2 billion, with orders in 2026, as a first step to gradually building up an anti-air capability. The aim will be to defend the entire territory, with a focus on sensitive infrastructure, according to the plan – Belgium is home to Europe’s second-busiest port in Antwerp as well as NATO headquarters in Brussels.

The government also intends to buy three long-range air-defense systems, with a budget of €2 billion and a first commitment planned in 2029. For the long-range systems, full interoperability with the air-defense capacities of the Netherlands “must absolutely be guaranteed.” While the report didn’t go into details, Belgium’s northern neighbor operates the U.S. Patriot system.

The budget plans over the period also include €13.9 billion for the country’s land motorized capability, of which €6 billion are for combat maneuver. Belgium says it’s committed to providing NATO with a motorized medium brigade, a motorized light brigade and a joint motorized medium-combat reconnaissance battalion together with Luxembourg.

The medium brigade will have around 7,800 troops and 2,700 vehicles of various types, with the goal of being able to field the completed brigade in 2030, particularly in a NATO context.

To bolster the naval component of the armed forces, Belgium plans to buy a third anti-submarine warfare frigate, for a budget of €1.3 billion. Belgium and the Netherlands each ordered two ASW frigates from Damen in 2023, with the Netherlands saying last year it would double its order as part of increased defense spending .

The country also plans to order a third MQ-9B SkyGuardian drone in 2027 for a budget of €254 million.

The Belgian government in April agreed to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP in 2025 and maintain that level through to 2033, before an increase to 2.5%. After the NATO meeting in June, where allies agreed on core defense spending of 3.5%, the government will “study the modalities” of a potential increase, Francken said.

Based on the current plans and economic outlook, Belgian defense spending would rise gradually to €16.5 billion in 2033 before a jump to €21.3 billion in 2034, according to the strategy report.

Belgium’s strategic goals for 2035 are to prepare for a high-intensity military conflict in a context of collective defense, protect its territory and to anticipate future warfare, according to the report.

The government goal is to increase military personnel to 29,000 by the end of 2029 and rising to 34,500 personnel by the end of 2034, from 26,200 troops at the start of this year, while also more than tripling the number of civilian defense staff.

Belgium additionally plans to expand its reserve force five-fold to 12,800 by the end of the planning period, as well as introduce a voluntary military service year for young adults in 2026, following the example of the Dutch service-year program started in 2023.

Francken said the threat of war is now greater than at any time during the Cold War, and Belgium lacks readiness in all areas, including a population that is insufficiently informed and aware of the reality of military threats.

The U.S. pivot to Asia means Europe is forced to assume a certain level of strategic autonomy, and Belgium argues for developing a European defense pillar within NATO, according to Francken.

An end to the war in Ukraine could prompt Russia to test the solidarity of NATO, for example by invading a Baltic country or through a targeted missile attack on an alliance member, the latter of which could include Belgium, the strategy report said.

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——比利时政府周五批准了一项更新的战略计划，其中包括购买更多 F-35 战斗机、第三艘护卫舰，并在防空方面投入数十亿欧元。此前几十年，比利时一直是北约国防开支最低的国家之一，该国正寻求弥补能力差距。

比利时国防部长西奥·弗兰肯在长达100多页的《2025年战略愿景》报告的前言中写道，比利时军队需要进行“彻底转型”，以打造一支能够有效威慑外敌并应对高强度战争而非远征任务的部队。除了增加装备外，该计划还要求到2034年将军事人员数量增加约三分之一。

弗兰肯表示：“像比利时这样的国家只有与忠诚而强大的伙伴结盟，才能保持自由和主权。而只有当我们准备好在保卫他们时展现团结，才能指望他们忠诚。”

今年早些时候，比利时新政府同意将国防开支提高到GDP的2%，2025年的预算为128亿欧元（149亿美元），打破了该国在北约国防开支排名中长期垫底的局面。预计到2024年，比利时将把GDP的1.29%用于国防，仅次于西班牙。

作为周五公布的战略计划的一部分，比利时在 2026 年至 2034 年期间的产能承诺预算为 348 亿欧元，其中 247 亿欧元将在该期间支出。

弗兰肯表示：“政府旨在通过具体承诺恢复国家的外交信誉。正是在此背景下，政府批准了这项新的战略愿景。”

报告指出，目前的国防预算无法弥补多年投资不足造成的全部缺口，比利时将重点放在优先领域。这些领域包括使其中型摩托化旅全面投入作战，建立多层防空体系，储备弹药以确保战备状态，增强空中作战能力，以及扩大海上水面作战能力。

比利时计划增购11架F-35战斗机，预算为16.7亿欧元，订单计划于明年下达。比利时此前已订购34架F-35战斗机，目前已交付8架，预计全部机队将于2031年初投入使用。

报告指出，高强度作战行动和无人机、高超音速导弹等新威胁使得加强空军力量“绝对必要”，而乌克兰战争也表明，需要空中力量来避免僵局。

比利时目前没有任何陆基导弹防御系统，将斥资20亿欧元从康斯伯格公司购买10套NASAMS系统，订单将于2026年交付，作为逐步构建防空能力的第一步。根据计划，该系统的目标是保卫整个国土，重点保护敏感基础设施——比利时拥有欧洲第二繁忙的港口安特卫普港以及位于布鲁塞尔的北约总部。

比利时政府还计划采购三套远程防空系统，预算为20亿欧元，首批订单计划于2029年交付。对于这些远程系统，必须“绝对保证”与荷兰防空系统的完全互操作性。虽然报道没有详细说明，但比利时的北部邻国荷兰目前装备的是美国“爱国者”防空系统。

该时期的预算计划还包括为比利时陆地摩托化能力投入139亿欧元，其中60亿欧元用于作战机动。比利时表示，将与卢森堡共同向北约提供一个摩托化中型旅、一个摩托化轻型旅和一个联合摩托化中型战斗侦察营。

该中型旅将拥有约 7800 名士兵和 2700 辆各种类型的车辆，目标是在 2030 年完成旅的部署，尤其是在北约的背景下。

为了加强海军实力，比利时计划斥资13亿欧元购买第三艘反潜护卫舰。比利时和荷兰分别于2023年向达门造船厂订购了两艘反潜护卫舰，荷兰去年表示，作为增加国防开支的一部分，其订单量将翻一番。

该国还计划在 2027 年订购第三架 MQ-9B 天空卫士无人机，预算为 2.54 亿欧元。

比利时政府在4月份同意将国防开支提高到2025年占GDP的2%，并维持这一水平到2033年，之后再提高到2.5%。弗兰肯表示，在6月份的北约会议上，盟国同意将核心国防开支提高到3.5%，之后比利时政府将“研究”潜在增幅的具体方式。

根据目前的计划和经济前景，比利时国防开支将逐步增加，到 2033 年达到 165 亿欧元，然后在 2034 年跃升至 213 亿欧元，战略报告如此预测。

报告指出，比利时 2035 年的战略目标是在集体防御的背景下为高强度军事冲突做好准备，保护其领土并预测未来的战争。

政府的目标是到 2029 年底将军事人员增加到 29,000 人，到 2034 年底增加到 34,500 人，而今年年初的军队人数为 26,200 人，同时还将文职国防人员的数量增加两倍以上。

比利时还计划在规划期结束前将其预备役部队扩大五倍，达到 12,800 人，并效仿荷兰于 2023 年启动的志愿兵役年计划，于 2026 年为年轻人引入志愿兵役年。

弗兰肯表示，现在的战争威胁比冷战时期的任何时期都要大，比利时在所有方面都缺乏准备，包括民众对军事威胁的现实了解不足。

弗兰肯表示，美国转向亚洲意味着欧洲被迫承担一定程度的战略自主权，比利时主张在北约内部建立欧洲防务支柱。

战略报告称，乌克兰战争的结束可能会促使俄罗斯考验北约的团结，例如入侵波罗的海国家或对北约成员国发动定点导弹袭击，后者可能包括比利时。

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。