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a8 local
Tuesday 7 February 2023
Army excercises with drones in Aruba

From February 7, 60 soldiers from the Royal exercise will last till March 24.
Netherlands Army will have exercises in
Aruba. The soldiers are working at the 107 107 Aerial Systems Battery (107 ASBt)
Aerial Systems Battery in ’t Harde, in the 107 ASBt is an operational intelligence
Netherlands. They are specialized in the unit and is specialized in the deployment
deployment of different types of drones. of unmanned aerial system (UAS), better
To make the exercise possible, the military known as drones. With this UAS the unit col-
also has its own vehicles and other military lects intelligence that other units can use
equipment. in their operational deployment. This UAS-
detachment can also be deployed for
The climate in Aruba offers the military civilian tasks. During the exercise in Aruba
good opportunities to make a lot of flight the drones will only be deployed for exer-
hours with the drones, and therewith get cise purposes. The images made by the
maximum efficiency out of the exercise. drones during the exercise are not saved.
In the Netherlands the possibilities during
winter time are more limited. In addition, Collaboration with Luxemburg and Bel-
this exercise offers the opportunity to col- gium
laborate with colleagues from the Ma- 107 ASBt collaborates with the Luxem-
rine Squadron Carib and the Coastguard bourg and Belgian armed forces. Also dur-
Dutch Caribbean Region, which are both ing this exercise a number of colleagues
also active in Aruba. from Luxembourg and Belgium will be go-
ing under guidance from 107 ASBt instruc-
The soldiers stay at the Marine barracks at tors, to gain experience flying the Dutch
Savaneta and are active on several loca- drones. The exercise is separate from the
tions all around the island. From February deployment of the MQ-9 Reaper.q
15 the first flights will take place and the