For the first time in eighteen years, the Dutch army will again have access to rocket artillery. The government is investing hundreds of millions of euros in mobile systems that can fire precision missiles over a distance of more than 70 kilometers. Also, ten armored howitzers will be taken out of storage and put back into service, and a new air defense system will be introduced.

With the purchases, the cabinet wants to strengthen the firepower of the army. Secretary of Defense Van der Maat wrote to the House of Representatives that the war in Ukraine underscores the need “to be able to act on all aspects of the spectrum of violence”.

However, a spokesman explains: “Even without a war in Ukraine, the rocket artillery system would have been built. The plans have been around for some time, but the war may have sped things up.”

The first rocket artillery systems should be delivered by the end of next year. Van der Maat has yet to decide exactly which system the Netherlands will buy; he hopes to have it solved before Christmas.

Rocket artillery systems are widespread in Ukraine. Several Western countries have several rocket launchers delivered to Kyiv to fire a volley of rockets there. Ukraine has also received self-propelled howitzers from Germany and the Netherlands, among others.

“These systems proved crucial in the war in Ukraine,” says defense expert Peter Wijninga of the Hague Center for Strategic Studies. He sees the Dutch investments as a “repair,” a way to reverse an earlier cut in the armed forces. The weapons expert refers to the cabinet decision of 2004 to sell the then Dutch guided missile artillery systems to Finland.

“Now it’s becoming clear once again how necessary these systems are,” says Wijninga. “In the current war, they helped turn Ukraine’s chances. Rocket artillery, for example, has enabled the Ukrainian army to take out Russian ammunition dumps and logistics centers from long range. That significantly weakened Russia in the ground war.”

According to Wijninga, both the rocket artillery systems and the armored howitzers that the Netherlands will soon have will ensure a significant strike force on the ground. “The war in Ukraine underscored the importance of artillery in this regard, and politicians are aware of that.”