Toespraak staatssecretaris Tuinman bij Supplier Day Thales
De toespraak is alleen beschikbaar in het Engels.
Good afternoon, everyone.
It’s great to be here! Standing here at Innstyle in Maarssen, I feel the same energy I always feel when I visit Thales in Hengelo – that unmistakable spirit of innovation. A mix of technology and teamwork. Of creativity and courage. Exactly the kind of energy our armed forces need – right now.
And let me begin by saying that we have every reason to be proud of what’s happening in Overijssel, and throughout the Netherlands. Because what we are witnessing here is not just industry. It’s national strength in motion.
And that strength is needed. The world around us is changing fast – and not for the better. Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine is entering its fourth winter. Every day brings new images of destruction – of drones, missiles, cyberattacks. Russia deliberately targets Ukraine’s power grid, plunging families into cold and darkness.
And let’s be clear: Putin is not only fighting Ukraine. He’s testing the resolve of all of Europe. Russian drones are crossing NATO airspace. Fighter jets are probing our borders. Sabotage and cyberattacks have become part of daily reality.
For the first time in NATO history, our F-35 pilots – including Dutch pilots – have shot down hostile drones over NATO territory. Across Europe, airports have been forced to shut down due to the presence of unidentified drones. That’s how close the threat has come. That’s how real it is.
We live in what NATO now calls a ‘pre-war zone’. And in that grey zone between peace and conflict, one truth remains: peace is only preserved through strength. Strength in mindset. Strength in readiness. And strength in the industrial backbone that enables our armed forces to act fast.
So when we ask: ‘How are we preparing for war?’, it’s not because we are seeking it out. We want to deter it. And deterrence only works when it’s credible.
Credible deterrence begins in our factories, our labs and our workshops. It begins in the partnerships between Defence, Thales, and all the companies represented in this room today.
You are the ones who make our soldiers stronger, our systems smarter, and our nation safer. From radars and semiconductors, to textiles and advanced composites. From the drones that patrol our skies to the towels that our troops use to dry themselves.
Take the company Spinning Jenny from Nijverdal, which produced 50,000 hand towels for the NATO summit, towels made partly from recycled uniforms, a prime example of the circular economy. Or take Cato Composites from Rheden, crafting helmets for both soldiers and skiers. Demcon in Enschede and Height Technologies in Culemborg, building uncrewed aerial systems. And the brilliant minds at Twente and Radboud universities, working on chips, batteries, and medical innovation. Even Colonel Vincent Stirler and his team – printing 3D splints so that wounded soldiers can continue to serve. These are examples of Dutch ingenuity at its best.
But let’s be honest – we’re not there yet. Our supply chains are still too fragile, too dependent on distant sources and slow processes. If we truly want to be ready, we must build resilience before crisis strikes.
That’s why Defence is changing course. We are no longer satisfied with simply placing an order and waiting for delivery. We want to be a strategic partner – working shoulder to shoulder with industry, researchers, and financiers.
That’s why, last week, we signed new Letters of Intent with four regions – Overijssel, the central Netherlands, Zeeland, and North Holland – expanding on our earlier partnerships with Limburg and North Brabant. Because every region has its own strength. Overijssel excels in manufacturing and electronics. Zeeland in logistics and energy. North Holland in high-tech and maritime innovation. The central Netherlands in robotics and data.
Together, we can form a national innovation network – one that ranges from ‘sock to tank’, as Deputy Erwin Hoogland from Overijssel so nicely puts it. And from that network, we will launch new MIND-bases – our ‘Military Innovation by Doing’ hubs – where soldiers, scientists and startups work side by side. Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Delft, Enschede, Groningen and Geleen are already on board. Soon, I hope that every province will be.
We are looking for new ways of working – faster, bolder, together. One example is our newly announced Counter-UAS Challenge – a call to industry to build an offensive counter-drone system. We did not write 400 pages of requirements. Instead, we described the desired effect: to neutralize a hostile drone as quickly as possible after it is launched. And now we are asking you – our industry partners – to form consortia, to experiment, to deliver. In June 2026, we are aiming to conduct operational tests.
That’s how we accelerate innovation. We want to make ‘innovate, integrate, operate’ a habit, not just a catchphrase. Over 100 companies have already expressed interest, and I hope many of you here today will join them.
We’ve already seen how powerful partnerships can be. Just look at the Thales GM 200 MM/C radar – born from close cooperation between Thales engineers, a Defence reservist, and a shared leap of faith. Today, that radar is one of Thales’s greatest success stories. It protects troops during missions, detects incoming drones and aircraft, and gives our forces the situational awareness that provides a decisive edge in modern warfare. This is what we can achieve when we share risk and vision. When we move beyond the customer-supplier relationship, and start thinking as a single ecosystem.
Other opportunities originate outside our organisation and our borders. Just last week, US-based Raytheon announced that it is exploring the possibility of producing part of the AMRAAM missile here in the Netherlands. Such a step would strengthen our own supply chains, support Ukraine, and deepen transatlantic cooperation. Dutch companies such as Thales and its suppliers could play a key role, contributing Dutch technology and expertise to a shared defence capability.
And there’s more. The announced European drone wall offers enormous potential too. The Netherlands – together with Latvia and Croatia – is taking the lead in Europe when it comes to drones and counter-drones. And Gerben – I have a challenge for you. Thales has the knowledge, the systems, and the people to lead. So take your place at the forefront of the Dutch contribution to Europe’s drone wall!
And speaking of taking the lead… Thales is opening a new office in Amsterdam. So I really hope you’ll be spreading your rural, down-to-earth resilience and pragmatic approach there as well!
Beyond that, we must scale up – more rapidly than we are currently. We must build Dutch industrial ecosystems that are strong enough to endure and strategically indispensable on the international stage. Not only in full systems, but also in critical components. Because Russia isn’t waiting for us to take action. Neither are our allies.
Before I go on, I want to turn the mirror towards ourselves – towards Defence. Because I know that working with us is not always easy. Our processes can be complex. Our payments can be slow. Our rules can feel like a maze. I hear that frustration loud and clear – from companies, from regional partners, from many of you in this room.
And we are taking this issue seriously. We are simplifying processes, speeding up approvals, and improving communication. And if something isn’t working – please tell me directly. Come to me or my team, and together we will find a solution.
Simplicity, clarity, trust – that’s how we’ll move forward. That’s why we’re launching Defence funds like the SecFund, to help smaller companies bridge the financing gap. We know that scaling up is risky – especially for SMEs. That’s why Defence, provinces, and financial partners must share that risk.
At the same time, we are engaging closely with our leading national industry partners – the original equipment manufacturers like Thales – to jointly develop projects and programs of strategic importance. No company should have to choose between patriotism and profitability.
So how do we move forward from here? I see three big shifts that we need to make.
First: long-term partnerships. We must move from one-off projects to multi-year cooperation – joint R&D programmes, framework contracts, shared investment lines. Predictability builds confidence, and confidence builds capacity.
Second: dual-use innovation. What starts as civilian technology can become military technology – and vice versa. Whether it concerns AI, robotics, smart materials or energy systems, dual-use is the future. So let’s tear down the walls between civil and military innovation.
Third: human capability. Technology is nothing without the people who build and use it. That’s why we must invest in joint education, apprenticeships, and training.
And let’s not underestimate what we already have. After South Holland, the eastern part of the Netherlands has the largest concentration of Defence companies in the country. More than 200, and counting. Names such as Thales, Rheinmetall Ede, and Scania Zwolle already have an outstanding international reputation. But there is room for hundreds more – from drone producers to textile manufacturers, from software to sensors.
Ladies and gentlemen,
If I’ve learned one thing in the field, it’s this: wars are not just won by the side with the biggest arsenal. They’re won by those with the fastest feedback loop – the ones who can innovate, integrate, and operate more quickly than anyone else.
Look at Ukraine. David has been fighting Goliath for more than three-and-a-half years now. They may be outnumbered, but they are not out-innovated. That’s the spirit we need to embrace here, too.
My message today is simple: Defence cannot do this alone. We need every link in this chain – every company, every region, every innovator. European countries are investing billions in new capabilities, and we want that money to land here – in Dutch hands, in Dutch factories, to support Dutch minds.
And when I look at you all – the makers, the thinkers, the innovators of our nation – I know that we have what it takes. So let’s make this our shared mission: to innovate together, to scale up together, and to deliver.
That is how we prepare for war. That is how we preserve peace. And that is how we protect everything we hold dear.
Thank you.