The move positions the Dutch military at the leading edge of a shift that defence analysts have been tracking since the early stages of the war in Ukraine. Eichelsheim pointed directly to the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East as the driving force behind the decision, arguing that drones and counter-drone capabilities have become central — not supplementary — to modern land warfare.
No other NATO ally has yet embedded this capability at every level of its combat structure in this way, according to Eichelsheim. The Netherlands is, in his words, breaking new ground within the alliance.
Sustaining that lead will require a fundamentally different relationship with industry, Eichelsheim stressed. Unlike traditional defence procurement cycles, drone technology evolves on a timescale measured in months rather than years. “We need to continuously modernise and adapt systems,” he said. Close cooperation with the Dutch drone sector is seen as essential to keeping pace.
Recruitment opens in April. Eichelsheim expects the first six hundred candidates to be brought on board quickly, with the full complement of up to twelve hundred following as the new units are stood up across the force.
