The Netherlands and the United Kingdom are to jointly invest in new amphibious transport ships. In addition, together with 10 NATO partners the Netherlands is investing in the replacement of AWACS radar aircraft, which monitor NATO airspace from NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen. The 11 countries are to purchase 10 Canadian-made Bombardier aircraft, on to which the GlobalEye system manufactured by the Swedish company Saab will be mounted.
The Netherlands is also taking the lead in the European co-production, scaling-up and maintenance of American types of munitions, such as Stinger, AMRAAM and PAC-3 missiles. These agreements were signed last week during the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum, which was part of the NATO Summit in Ankara, Türkiye.
Over the past weeks, the Dutch navy vessel HNLMS Groningen delivered tens of thousands of kilos of food, water and medical supplies to Venezuela, following last month's major earthquakes that resulted in many dead and wounded. Dutch military personnel in the Caribbean worked closely with the Venezuelan authorities and the United Nations to ensure that the emergency aid reached the right areas.
On 11 July, the Dutch flag was flown at half-mast at the Ministry of Defence to observe the National Commemoration of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. The ceremony took place in The Hague. Netherlands Minister of Defence Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius represented the government, with the Netherlands Chief of Defence General Onno Eichelsheim also in attendance. The ceremony commemorated the over 8,000 victims of the genocide, who were killed after Bosnian-Serbian troops led by General Mladic captured the enclave of Srebrenica in 1995 during the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Intelligence gathered by the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) and the Defence Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) shows that Russian state-sponsored hackers are conducting systematic digital espionage operations against IP cameras, which are accessible via the internet. The Russian operation targets European NATO member states, including the Netherlands, as well as Ukraine. The Dutch security services have issued security advice and recommendations in order to counteract this form of espionage.
https://english.defensie.nl/latest/news/2026/07/15/a-look-at-the-defence-news-6-12-july