F-16s deployed for six more months in the fight against IS

At the proposal of Minister of Defence Steven Vandeput, the government has decided to prolong Belgium’s commitment in the fight against IS by six months. “In the meantime, the fight against IS has reached a crucial stage,” Steven Vandeput explains. “We will be there as long as we have to be there.”

Belgium has an agreement with the Netherlands in which each party is to relieve the other in the fight against IS once a year. The Belgian period of operations was normally set to end on 1 July; however, for operational and technical reasons, the Netherlands will not be able to fly any missions during the second half of this year. “As a result, the International Coalition requested that we continue our flight missions after 1 July,” Steven Vandeput says.

Tackling terror at its source

“Terror must be tackled at its source,” the Minister continues. “Our country makes a significant contribution to the International Coalition against IS and wishes to keep on doing so. So we will continue to deploy four of our F-16s until 31 December, supported by 110 military personnel, 20 of whom are temporary. The missions that our aircraft can carry out on behalf of the International Coalition will remain the same. The only difference is that the number of flight hours will decrease from 400 to 250 a month.”

The so-called Force Protection is being assured by the Netherlands until the end of the year. “Just by way of reminder, the rotation plan with the Netherlands has been around since 2015,” Minister Vandeput clarifies. “When our F-16s are in the air, the Dutch troops protect our military detachment. When the Dutch F-16s are in the air, we protect theirs.”