Belgian, Luxembourg Army Chiefs Discuss Joint Defence Projects

On Thursday 10 September 2026, the Luxembourg Army General Staff announced that Belgian Chief of Defence General Frederik Vansina had paid bilateral visit to Luxembourg.

General Vansina visited at the invitation of General Steve Thull, Chief of Staff of the Luxembourg Army, and was welcomed with military honours at the Military Centre in Diekirch. The two officials held talks on bilateral military cooperation, defence and security challenges and ongoing joint projects.

According to the army, Belgium has been a "privileged" defence partner of Luxembourg since the creation of the Luxembourg Army. Current cooperation includes several joint capability and operational projects, notably the future binational Luxembourg guides-chasseurs battalion.

Since the signing of the cooperation agreement in 2023, the implementation of the battalion project has made “significant progress”, noted the army. It aims to develop joint military capabilities and strengthen interoperability between the two countries' armed forces and forms part of NATO's military concept aimed at strengthening deterrence and defence in the Euro-Atlantic area.

The cooperation also includes the binational A400M unit, within which Belgian and Luxembourg personnel operate according to common procedures to carry out strategic and tactical air transport missions. The two countries also conduct joint training and deployments, including within NATO's multinational Forward Land Forces (FLF) battlegroup in Romania under French command.

During the visit, General Thull awarded General Vansina the Commander's Medal of the Order of the Oak Crown in recognition of his contribution to strengthening Belgian-Luxembourg military cooperation.

The distinction particularly recognised his contribution to the development of the Luxembourg guides-chasseurs battalion, the acquisition of the Luxembourg Army's future combat reconnaissance vehicle fleet and continued support for the integration of Luxembourg military personnel within the A400M unit.

The visit also provided the Belgian delegation with information about the capability transformation currently underway within the Luxembourg Army, including the transition of reconnaissance units from the Protected Reconnaissance Vehicle (PRV), based on the Dingo 2, to the Command, Liaison and Reconnaissance Vehicle (CLRV), based on the Eagle 5.

The programme also included an overview of defence capabilities developed in the space domain, with a visit to the satellite anchor station at the Military Centre and a presentation of satellite communication functions.

General Thull stated: “Belgium is our closest military partner and the one with which we have so far carried out the greatest number of deployments. The trust between our two armed forces has only grown over time and is reflected today in particularly close cooperation, both operationally and in terms of capabilities. The A400M unit and the binational battalion are concrete examples of this. In the current security context, it is essential to continue and deepen this cooperation in order to contribute, through it, to strengthening our defence capabilities and those of the EU and NATO.”