Two F-35 fighter jets scrambled this morning after an unidentified object appeared inside Dutch airspace and failed to respond to air traffic control, the Netherlands Ministry of Defence announced on December 8.
The alert was triggered at 11:20 a.m. local time after radar operators detected an aircraft flying at an altitude that requires identification and radio communication.
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The aircraft provided no transponder signal and did not answer calls from controllers, prompting the launch of the jets under NATO’s Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) protocol.
Once airborne, the F-35 pilots determined the object was a drone, which subsequently exited Dutch airspace and posed no threat, according to officials. No commercial flights were affected.
The QRA mission was coordinated by the Air Operations Control Station in Nieuw Milligen, which directs the rapid intercept response for the region. The Netherlands and Belgium rotate responsibility for the mission for periods of several months at a time, safeguarding the skies over the entire Benelux region—not only their own territory.
Dutch officials emphasized that QRA activations are not frequent, but today’s intercept underscores the need for immediate readiness. The Ministry of Defence noted the F-35s are on standby 24 hours a day and can launch within minutes to intercept unidentified aircraft.
The Netherlands resumed the QRA duty in November, operating in coordination with NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre in Uedem, which oversees air policing for Northern and Eastern Europe.
Earlier, the Dutch Ministry of Defence confirmed that the Russian vessel Yantar was escorted out of the North Sea this week after operating near critical undersea infrastructure within the Netherlands’ exclusive economic zone.
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