Netherlands buys drone detection radars after recent sightings

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -The Netherlands has bought 100 early-warning radars to help detect approaching drones, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday, after drone sightings near an airport and air force base in the country's south earlier this month.

The systems, produced by Dutch company Robin Radar, can distinguish drones from birds and other moving objects, it added.

"The 100 radars will not arrive all at once. The first will be handed over tomorrow, and all radars are expected to be delivered by 2026. The accompanying vehicles will arrive early next year," the defence ministry said, without elaborating.

Multiple drone sightings at Eindhoven Airport led the airport to suspend traffic for several hours last week and the Dutch military used weapons against drones spotted above a nearby air force base. The defence ministry did not comment when asked where the drones originated from.

Drones and other airspace incursions have caused significant disruption across Europe in recent months. Some European officials have attributed the incidents to "hybrid warfare" by Russia, which has denied any connection with the incidents.

(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; editing by Philippa Fletcher)