PARIS — The Netherlands plans to bolster its armed forces by reconstituting a tank battalion, buying more F-35 fighter jets and adding anti-submarine frigates as the NATO member seeks to field a more credible military force capable of deterring an attack.
The Dutch government will increase defense spending by €2.4 billion (U.S.$2.65 billion) a year, including €1.5 billion additional spending on “combat power,” it said in a paper last week setting out policy for coming years. The country will lift its defense budget to around €24 billion a year, nearly double what the Netherlands spent on defense in 2022.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Dutch need to prepare for scenarios including Russia attacking a NATO member such as Lithuania or Poland, the defense paper said. The Netherlands must be ready to fight a war of necessity rather than the “wars of choice” of recent decades, State Secretary of Defence Gijs Tuinman said in a presentation of the paper on Thursday.
“The ruthless aggression shows that an attack on the NATO alliance is no longer unthinkable,” Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said. “The Netherlands must step up to protect our security. We have to get to work to deter our enemies, guard NATO’s external borders and prevent further war in Europe. We have no time to lose in this.”
Brekelmans said the Netherlands may seem at peace, but in reality the country is in a “gray zone” of neither peace nor war, facing daily attacks on digital systems, companies, ports and power grids, and constant spying. He said the Dutch can no longer choose where in the world’s conflict areas they can contribute, but must be ready to defend the national territory.
“This is not just a small change,” Dutch Chief of Defence Gen. Otto Eichelsheim said. “It is a turning point in the history of the Dutch armed forces, and it requires a fundamentally different way of thinking. Instead of meticulously preparing and planning every single mission, in the near future our military, our civilians must simply be ready every day, permanently ready for a large-scale conflict. Because deterrence only works if we are credible.”
The government said it wants to enshrine minimum defense spending of 2% of gross domestic product in law. The country had already lifted its 2024 defense budget to €21.4 billion, or 1.95% of GDP, from €15.4 billion in 2023 and €12.9 billion in 2022.
Brekelmans said the Netherlands will still continue to deploy internationally to regions important to its security and prosperity, such as in Iraq and the Red Sea, and play an active role providing military support for Ukraine.
As part of the new focus on home defense, the Netherlands will recreate a tank battalion, after selling its last Leopard 2 tanks in 2011 due to budget cuts, and leasing 18 tanks from Germany since 2015. NATO has been calling on the Netherlands to strengthen its land-based power, including with heavy armor. The country may buy around 50 Leopard 2 A8 tanks, according to Dutch press reports.
A tank battalion costs between €260 million and €315 million per year, based on a 15-year planning period that includes buying the tanks as well as maintenance, spare parts, operating and personnel costs, according to a report to parliament earlier this year. The government will also look into unmanned systems to supplement manned tanks, it said in the defense paper.
To boost infantry firepower, the Army’s Boxer armored personnel carriers will be equipped with heavier cannons as well as anti-tank weapons.
“The armed forces must grow – in manpower, resources, and in weapon systems,” Brekelmans said. “We will have to innovate, to constantly stay one step ahead of our adversaries.”
For the Royal Netherlands Navy, the government will buy two more anti-submarine warfare frigates as well as NH-90 helicopters and uncrewed vessels. The Netherlands last year ordered two anti-submarine frigates from Damen and Thales for €1.9 billion, and the government now says the country needs more protection against underwater threats, including to subsea infrastructure in deeper waters.
The Dutch will also order an additional six F-35 fighter jets on top of the 52 aircraft already announced. Increasing the number of fighters will allow for greater availability and firepower, as well as more sustained operations, the paper said.
The country will invest in supplies of ammunition and spare parts, as well as free up additional funds for logistics, medical support and intelligence.
“It is not only crucial that we can bring more combat power to the table, but also that we can sustain the fight longer,” Brekelmans said. “This is an important lesson from the war in Ukraine, which has now been going on for two and a half years, with no end in sight at this time. Putin is discouraged only when he knows that he is losing not only the first battle, but the entire war.”
The Dutch armed forces face a “major limitation” related to the speed with which equipment and weapons can be delivered, and the country needs to boost the capacity of its defense firms to produce and innovate, according to the minister.
The Netherlands will therefore spend about €1 billion in coming years to beef up defense-industrial production, according to Tuinman, the defense state secretary, who said a strong local defense industry is part of deterrence.
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