A recent broadcast by the Belgian investigative television programme Pano examined the wave of alleged Russian drone sightings over Belgium in October and November 2025. Despite claims made by the defence minister, Theo Francken, the documentary revealed that there is no confirmed evidence of hostile drones operating in Belgian airspace. The federal prosecutor’s office is currently investigating 29 dossiers related to approximately 40 incidents, but no definitive conclusions have been drawn about the origin of these sightings.
Pano’s investigation uncovered that Francken personally shared a video with the HLN newspaper, depicting what he claimed was a large drone over Brussels airport. It later emerged that the footage actually showed a police helicopter filmed at night, but corrections were not made until weeks later.
The documentary also heavily scrutinised the procurement process that followed the crisis. An accelerated rollout of counter-drone capabilities saw €50m allocated without a standard public tender process, ignoring critical and negative advice from the Inspectorate of Finance. Pano highlighted two specific deals indicating heavily inflated prices and potential cronyism:
- A €10.4m contract was awarded to Senhive for 84 radio frequency detection antennas. This priced each unit at €83,700, whereas market inquiries suggested similar technology costs around €28,000.
- A €7.8m contract was awarded to the distributor COPS for 300 kamikaze drones from Latvia. Defence experts estimated the actual cost for 300 of these drones should be closer to €1.8m.
The Political Fallout
The revelations in the documentary have triggered widespread political controversy, placing Francken under intense scrutiny from both opposition and coalition parties.
Staf Aerts, a Groen MP and chair of the parliamentary committee on military procurement, stated that the affair “reeks of cronyism“ and suggested that parliament may have been misled. He has formally demanded that Francken explain his role in the fast-track emergency procedure to parliament, seeking clarification on whether public funds were spent lawfully and whether the minister actively shaped a false threat narrative.
Coalition partners have also voiced serious concerns. Koen Van den Heuvel, spokesperson for the Flemish Christian democrat party (CD&V), urgently sought an explanation regarding the circulated helicopter video, stating: “In times of unrest, ministers must call for calm, not cause further unrest”. He emphasised that with the prime minister citing budget shortfalls every day, defence spending must be carried out sensibly.
Axel Weydts, an MP for the coalition Flemish socialist party Vooruit, demanded “absolute transparency” from the minister. Weydts questioned whether the minister deliberately circulated the helicopter video to artificially emphasise urgency and whether the millions allocated were spent correctly. He vowed to pursue the matter further in the Defence Select Committee.
Furthermore, Annick Ponthier, an MP for Vlaams Belang, demanded a thorough investigation into the matter and proposed the establishment of an independent oversight committee specifically for military procurement
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