Beauvechain, nerve center of combat helicopters
It has been in the air for weeks, it’s now official. Only a few days, after having decided to invest 5% of his GDP in the defense and to have gone to the top of NATO, Theo Francken wants to go quickly, by acting to the Council of Ministers, this morning, this investment and making Beauvechain, the nerve center of the helicopters of the Belgian air force. “The Council of Ministers has approved this file prepared for a year. We will invest 96 million euros in the infrastructure to accommodate in the coming years, 15 helicopters and 10 planes dedicated to special forces.”, was delighted Theo Francken at the end of the Council of Ministers. Before adding: “Beauvechain has always been an important basis. This is where our radar and control systems are located and thanks to this investment we strengthen Beauvechain’s position within the defense. This is good news, for Wallonia, Walloon and Flemish Brabant.”
The NATO standard of 2% of GDP dedicated to defense affected
With this investment, this is one of the first concretizations of the federal budget allocated to the expenses for the defense. “This is the first time that we have reached this standard of 2% in 40 years and I am very happy”, underlined the Minister N-VA of Defense.
