Toespraak minister van Defensie Ruben Brekelmans tijdens DroneHorizon2025
Toespraak minister van Defensie Ruben Brekelmans tijdens DroneHorizon2025 op 4 september 2025.
De toespraak is alleen beschikbaar in het Engels. Gesproken woord geldt.
Ladies and gentlemen, pioneers and partners,
What a great initiative this is! Three of Europe’s biggest ports… Fierce competitors in business… Each looking for trade, investment, market share… And yet, here you stand together – because some challenges are too big for rivalry, and some opportunities too important to miss.
Your presence here today shows that Europe’s ports are more than gateways for goods and people – they are also gateways for ideas, for technology, and for our shared security.
So let me first thank the organizers for making this very first edition of DroneHorizon possible: the Port of Rotterdam, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Hamburg Port Authority, DronePort Rotterdam, and The Beacon. I would like to extend special thanks to DronePort Rotterdam – the driving force behind this cooperation and the creator of the DroneHorizon concept. Without their vision and determination, we would not be standing here today.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Maassilo, the building where we are gathered, once powered Rotterdam’s economy with grain and energy. Today, it stands as a symbol of transformation – a place where ideas, creativity, and innovation take root. Together, we can build something that will last: we can not only hold a conference here, but actually build a European platform for action. A platform where a startup sits beside a port authority, a student beside a general. Because true innovation emerges when unexpected partners come together.
Unfortunately, this type of initiative is crucial in the world of today. We are living in times that demand this mindset. Around us we see a brutal war on European soil in Ukraine. We see escalating conflicts in the Middle East. We see an increasingly assertive China, and instability in the Sahel. Russia has transformed its entire military-industrial complex into a war economy, partnering up with Iran, North Korea and China.
In such a world, Europe cannot afford to wait four years for a new program, a new budget cycle, a new plan. We must innovate now. We must move fast, adapt fast, and scale up fast. And we must do it together – across borders, across sectors, across doctrines.
Before we explore the key opportunities drones offer for ports and their facilities, let me first share a personal story from a military perspective. One of the moments I most vividly remember in my first year as a minister of Defence, is my visit to Kharkiv, a city as large as Rotterdam and Antwerp combined, just 40 kilometers from the Russian border.
In a bunker not far from the front line, we met a Ukrainian officer, a colonel. Before the war, he was an IT specialist. Now, he leads a battalion that builds and flies drones. Some of their systems are highly advanced. Others are literally built from consumer parts ordered online.
The colonel told me: ‘Our strength is that we renew every three weeks. We analyze, adapt, and improve. Most of my people are civilians – volunteers, students. Because we innovate faster, we keep Putin out. That’s why Kharkiv is still free.’
Standing there, it felt less like a military command post, and more like a tech start-up – only underground in a bunker. Screens full of data, young people coding and analyzing, prototypes being tested immediately.
The lesson was crystal clear: in modern warfare, technology – and above all, the speed of innovation – is decisive. Drones are making the difference between defeat and survival.
And the same truth applies here: in our ports, in our logistics chains, in our emergency services. It is speed and creativity that determine whether we lead the way or fall behind. And of course, when I talk about drones, I mean the entire family of autonomous and unmanned systems – whether in the air, on the water, or beneath the waves. Together, they form the backbone of the innovation and security challenges that we face.
That’s why in the Netherlands, we launched the Action Plan for the Production of Unmanned systems. That is why we partnered with industry and knowledge institutes to create the Quick Response Drone Facility – a place where industry, knowledge institutions, and Defence work side by side. Not in theory, not in long theoretical dissertations and articles – but in practice. From problem to prototype to production.
That is why we are building a Network of Excellence: physical locations across the Netherlands where Defence, knowledge institutes such as NLR, and commercial companies develop drones together – for our Navy, Air Force, Army, and Military Police. And that is why we are investing in production capacity, working closely with industry leaders like VDL – scaling up to make sure our ambitions can be delivered at speed and scale.
All of these initiatives are only as strong as the partnerships we build – with you: the innovators, the engineers, the entrepreneurs who come up with fresh solutions every day. We need more than established leaders. We need new leaders, new facilities, new collaborations – many of which can take shape right here in Rotterdam.
Innovation is not only about systems, it is about people. We must train the next generation of operators, coders, and engineers, while also reskilling the workforce that keeps our ports running today. Europe’s true strength lies not only in its technology, but in its people.
And let me stress: this is not only about Defence. Drones are dual-use by nature. The same systems that defend our ports from hostile actors, also keep port inspectors safe. The same drones that help our armed forces, can also fight fires, detect oil spills, inspect bridges, monitor emissions, and optimize port logistics.
And vice versa! Your drones can prove just as valuable for our military operations as they are in port operations. Especially because the civilian use of drones ensures continuous innovation in times of peace.
Take the Royal Boatmen’s Association Eendracht – KRVE – here in Rotterdam. Founded back in 1895, when all the work was done by hand instead of unmanned, the KRVE continues to look ahead. Today, now with a modern fleet of 60 vessels, drones support their daily operations: delivering chemical samples, transporting spare parts, carrying packages from ship to shore – a powerful reminder that tradition and innovation can go hand in hand.
And the Royal Boatmen’s Association is definitely not alone. Nearly 70 drone operators are active in the Port of Rotterdam – making this city not just Europe’s largest port, but also one of its fastest-growing hubs for unmanned systems.
For the Ministry of Defence, the message is clear: security cannot be built in isolation. To protect what we hold dear, our cooperation with the civil sector is not optional – it’s imperative.
And it’s more than joint investment and shared operations. Civil-military cooperation is a living exchange of knowledge – where Defence strengthens our economic security, and where economic innovation, in turn, reinforces our overall security. Rotterdam, Antwerp-Bruges, and Hamburg can be a living lab for global best practices in port security and innovation.
We often talk about defence expenditures, but it is better to talk about defence investments. History has proven that the investments we make in defence flow back to society – in terms of security of course, but also in new technologies, new companies, new opportunities. Think of GPS. Think of space technologies. Think of the internet. Many of the great innovations of our time were born in the defence domain, but were later adapted to the civilian world and grew to serve humanity. It’s a reminder that when we defend, we also create.
The Netherlands has a lot to offer. We are home to world-class AI, sensors, software, and robotics. Our companies are leaders in the field – from Tulip Tech with its game-changing batteries to Avular and Tective with cutting-edge robotics.
But leadership is not something you simply declare to the world. It is something you prove – through speed, adaptability, and partnership. We must work side by side with users – in the field, in the port, in the unit. We must shorten innovation cycles from years to weeks. We must break down barriers in procurement, legislation, and investment. And above all, we must commit to innovation – not as an exception, but as a new rule.
To put this into practice, the Ministry of Defence will hold recurring policy dialogues with industry and partners, organized by industry itself. I warmly invite our civilian partners to take part in these discussions. Because only together can we address the challenges of financing, testing and experimentation, and achieving strategic autonomy.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Rotterdam is Europe’s busiest port – a lifeline for our economy. It is the gateway to a vast network of rivers, roads, and railways that carry goods deep into the European heartland. It is therefore also a NATO gateway: the entry point for military forces and equipment from the US, the UK, and Canada, should the Alliance need to defend its Eastern flank. In both roles, Rotterdam stands as an asset of immense value – and therefore, a strategic target.
So when we talk about protecting Rotterdam, and also the ports of Antwerp-Bruges and Hamburg, we are not only talking about protecting trade. We are talking about the arteries of European economy and security.
The themes of DroneHorizon2025 reflect exactly what we must achieve together: protect Europe’s underwater and port infrastructure, use air and space-based autonomy to deliver navigation capability, data, and situational awareness, develop dual-use security and counter-drone capabilities, build an ecosystem of governance, skills and partnerships.
Here, in Rotterdam, we are setting the agenda. Tomorrow, at the Innovation Dock, we will bring it to life via demonstrations and applications of various types of equipment. We will connect air, land, water, and space. We will connect governments, industry, and knowledge. I am sure this is the way forward – making autonomous systems work for Europe’s security, economy, and society.
DroneHorizon2025 is the beginning of a multi-year journey. Next year in Antwerp-Bruges, the year after in Hamburg. Together, we are shaping Europe’s future in autonomous and unmanned systems.
When I think back to that Ukrainian officer, the colonel in Kharkiv, I remember his words: ‘Our strength is that we renew every three weeks.’ That is the spirit we need in Europe. Not slow cycles of years, but fast cycles of weeks. Not waiting for the perfect solution, but adapting, testing, improving – again and again. Not in isolation, but in true partnerships, where civil and military actors, industry and government, nations and allies move forward together.
The world will not wait for us. But if we combine our strengths and capabilities, Europe will not only catch up; we will lead.
Defence is ready to play its part. And the fact that three of Europe’s biggest ports are joining forces shows that you are ready to do the same. Together, we carry a responsibility that is bigger than any one of us alone.
So let us inspire each other. Let us learn from each other. And above all – let us act together, to keep Europe strong, secure, and prosperous.
Thank you.