Ex-Lieutenant General Marc Thys, former Belgian Vice-Chief of Defence, has told local media that the ammunition shortage in the Belgian army has improved.
Speaking yesterday, he claimed that the armed forces could now fight for 20 to 25 days.
In December 2023, he made national and international headlines with his assessment of Belgian ammunition stocks.
Thys claimed the armed forces were not at all ready for armed conflict, saying that within hours of an attack, its troops would be rendered unable to shoot back and would have to rely on “throwing stones” if armed conflict broke out.
He warned on the TV talk show De Afspraak that the West and Belgium in particular needed to invest more heavily in their armed forces.
Now, almost two years later, on the same talk show, Thys was much more positive about the state of affairs and said that great progress had been made.
Also yesterday, Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken announced that more people would be recruited in the army.
“Yes, a lot has happened in the last two years,” Thys said. “Just before the holidays, a major ammunition contract was signed which will meet 60 to 70 per cent of the munition needs.”
He said this would mean soldiers would only have to “throw stones” after 25 days, indicating it was “an enormous progress”.
Belgium decided to recruit 2,800 new soldiers, 1,000 reservists and 1,000 civilians, “a doubling heading for 2035”, Thys said.
Despite being home to the NATO central command, Belgium has always been lacklustre in its international defence obligations.
For many years, it was one of the least contributing member states and it failed to meet the 2 per cent domestic defence spending target.
In 2020, defence spending dropped to just above 1 per cent of GDP.
Since the return of Donald Trump as President of the US, Belgium has changed its course and quickly reached the NATO 2 per cent norm, promising to invest more in its military, even agreeing to the recent 5 per cent demand, despite its ongoing budgetary woes.
Belgian's former Vice-Chief of Defence @general_marcT has claimed Belgium is not at all ready for armed conflict, saying that within hours of an attack its troops would be rendered unable to shoot back and would have to rely on “throwing stones”. https://t.co/jN0oj6U3oU
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) December 6, 2023
