The Belgian armed forces had been a chronically underfunded institution for the last three and a halve decades with spending cut year after year since the collapse of the USSR to make room for other projects aimed at getting the involved politicians re-elected. The 2014 invasion of Ukraine by Russia should have been the wake-up call but Europe remained determined that it could all be solved diplomatically. This idealism was finally shattered with the 2022 full scale invasion of Ukraine, except for in Belgium where it took until the 2024 federal elections for things to start changing.
Belgian defence spending had reached a historic low in 2019 with 0,9% of GDP going to the military. This has since crawled back up to 1,287% in 2024 with the budget for 2025 set to be 2%, the NATO minimum requirement which the country had not reached since 1991. While the increased budget coincides with an aim to increase the fielded manpower, it also leaves room to fill long term capability gaps and provide the ability to reform the force into one capable of conventional warfighting again.
A part of this is the overhaul of the Belgian infantry formations with new section, platoon, company and battalion structures.
The Section
Starting off at the lowest level we have the infantry section. a ten man unit with two almost identical variants. The first includes:
- A two man vehicle crew consisting of a driver and a gunner.
- An eight men dismount section including the section commander, a medium-range anti-tank gunner and two fire teams
- The first fire team includes a rifleman, machine gunner and grenadier.
- The second fire team consists of a rifleman, machine gunner and C-UAS operator.
The second variant of this structure replaces the medium-range anti-tank gunner with the platoons second in command.
Armament wise everyone is equipped with the SCAR-L rifle with exceptions for the the Griffon’s driver and gunner are armed with a shortened close quarters variant of the SCAR-L, the Grenadier who also receives an FN GL40 under barrel grenade launcher and the machine gunners who armed with the FN Minimi mk3 light machine gun in 5,56×45. The medium-ranged anti-tank gunner is to seemingly be armed with the Spike-SR ATGM but these are likely placeholders until the French get their Eryx replacement into production.
In addition to the standard equipment, the two fire teams also receive some additional equipment. Both teams are armed with a disposable anti-armour weapons. Currently this is the M72 LAW but can be switched out for the RGW-90 HH with the M72 seemingly planned to be replaced by the AT4 in the future. The first fire team gets a micro-UAS and potentially a 51mm LGI commando mortar.
The second fire team is meanwhile more aimed towards the counter UAS role receiving a DRONEGUN mk4 UAS jammer, Winchester SX4 12 gauge shotgun and a Wingman UAS detector.
The Platoon
This then brings us to the platoon level were three of these sections are combined with a command team and support team. The command team consists of the platoon commander, platoon radio operator, a driver and a gunner. The support team meanwhile consists of two marksman armed with the SCAR-H PR and a Skydio DX10 quadcopter and two machine gunners, each operating a MAG 58 general purpose machine gun.
The platoon is mounted on four VBMR Griffon armoured personnel carriers which are each equipped with an M2 .50 calibre machine gun on a FN DeFNder Medium remote weapons station. Each of the sections rides in their own Griffon while the command and support teams share the fourth one which can also be equipped with a 40mm HK GMG instead of the M2.
The Company
Companies consist of three infantry platoons, a support platoon which contains the companies support weapons and a command section.
The Support platoon consists of the following elements.
- A three man command team mounted on an up-armoured JLTV equipped with an FN DeFNder light RWS armed with a MAG 58 general purpose machine gun.
- The unmanned systems section operates the companies RQ-11 Raven recon drones (these are however planned to be replaced in the near future) and is mounted on a UAS variant of the Dingo 2.
- The Mortar section consists of a three man command team on an up-armoured JLTV and two mortar teams which each operate a 60mm mortar, a Skydio DX10 UAV and are mounted on a VBMR Griffon variant adapted to carry the mortar and its ammunition.
- The two anti-tank sections will meanwhile operate mix of medium and long-range anti-tank weapons like the and a selection of loitering munitions. Each section is mounted on a VBMR Griffon MMP which is equipped with a HK GMG on its RWS.
- A two men supply section mounted on a Buffalo Alpha cargo truck.
The Battalion
The last echelon we will discuss in detail is the battalion which consists of three infantry companies, a support company and a staff and services company. Of the three infantry companies, one is designated as an operational reserve company which is to be staffed primarily by reservists. In peace time, such company is currently only able to generate a reinforced platoon for exercises and refresher training. The Belgian army aims to massively increase its pool of reservists with the gaol of of reaching 12.000 reservists across the force by 2035 compared to its current roughly 1.500 reservists.
The support company holds the battalions supporting elements consisting of:
- The companies command section.
- The scout platoon.
- The heavy weapons platoon armed with M2 .50 calibre machine guns and anti-tank guided missiles.
- The Sniper platoon consisting of four five-men teams.
- The unmanned systems platoon.
Previously the support company also held a six-tube mortar platoon but this was broken up to divide its mortars between the support platoons of the battalion’s three infantry companies.
Lastly the Staff and services company (which I have also seen referred to as the T-company or the HQ company) acts as the battalions command and logistical element. This company consists of:
- The headquarters and staff platoon.
- The ravitaillering (general supply) platoon responsible for class 1 (food stuffs), 2 (clothing and equipment), and 6 (personnel demand items) but also holds the battalions field showers and washing installations.
- The transport platoon responsible for class 3 (fuel and lubricants) and 5 (munitions).
- The maintenance platoon consisting of vehicle and weapons maintenance sections which are responsible for field repairs and general maintenance of the battalions vehicles and weapons. Depot level work is however delegated to the parent brigades logistics battalion.
During deployment the battalion is also reinforced with a signals unit (normally platoon sized) from the parent brigades signals group and a medical unit (normally platoon sized) from the parent brigades associated medical company held under the armies medical service.
The brigade
While not directly within the scope of this article, I do want to briefly touch on the top-level structure of the Belgian brigade. These consist of a Headquarters Company, two infantry battalions, a cavalry battalion, an artillery battalion, a logistics battalion, an engineering battalion and a signals group.
Disclaimer, this article is the culmination of almost halve a year of research and all the information presented in it comes from open sources or was revealed to me by the soldiers of these units during open days and similar events. Any of the items discussed are as always with these matters, subject to change.