Benelux Defence Industry Day 2026
24 June 2026
Benelux Defence Industry Day — Preliminary Programme
NATO Headquarters, Boulevard Leopold III 39, 1110 Evere, Belgium
Opening plenary
Security check & walk-in
09:00–10:00 · coffee service available throughout
Opening address
Geoffrey van Leeuwen
NATO Chief of Staff
Fireside chat
Benelux defence cooperation, investment priorities and industrial ambitions
Theo Francken
Minister of Defence (BE)
Derk Boswijk
Minister for Armaments (NL)
Hélène Massard
Deputy Director, Directorate of Defence (LU)
Keynote — industry perspective
Willem van der Leegte
CEO, VDL Group · followed by group photo
Parallel tracks — Session 1 (11:00–12:00)
Maritime
Industry keynote
Enabling BeNeLux defence cooperation — from industrial capabilities to partnerships
Vincent Maes (Damen BE) · Loïc Platon (FN Herstal)
Industry keynote
Upscaling from regional supplier to NATO supplier
Steven Luys, CEO (Exail Robotics)
(C)-UAS
Industry keynote
Industrial resilience in tactical UAVs: why sovereign capability matters
Ross Jackson, CCO (DeltaQuad)
Industry keynote
Multi-layer UAV integration
Nicolas Zharov, CEO (LUXUAV)
Space 4 Defence
Industry keynote
SES' strategy for meoSphere and in-house satellite manufacturing
Philippe Glaesener, Senior Vice President (SES)
Industry keynote
Innovative integration of iEPS into satellite structures
Jo Das, Product Line Manager (Thales Alenia Space)
Industry keynote
Passive RF monitoring constellation — collaboration opportunities
Jeroen Rotteveel, CEO (ISISPACE Group)
Land
Panel discussion
Industrial participation and strategic partnerships for land forces
Pieter Zomers (Thales NL)
Pierre Gérard (John Cockerill)
Fabrice Jeanfils (FN Herstal)
Michaël Dardenne (Thales BE)
Oliver North (North Defence)
NATO
NATO session
Defence industrial initiatives
Nikolaos Loutas, Director Innovation (D2IA)
Jyoti Hirani-Driver, Acting Managing Director (DIANA)
Procurement session
New NATO procurement policy
Dana Bekri, Staff IS-NOR
Network lunch
12:00–13:15
Parallel tracks — Session 2 (13:15–14:15)
Maritime
Innovation keynote
Cross-border collaboration for maritime security and defence
Piet Opstaele, CEO (Blauwe Cluster)
Innovation keynote
Testing the future at sea: MARIN's role in ship and USV development
Pepijn de Jong, Manager Defence (MARIN)
(C)-UAS
Industry keynote
Integrating interceptors in C-UAS
Oleksandr Danyliuk, President (Destinus)
Procurement session
Counter-UAS opportunities in NATO: a guide for Benelux industry
Claudio Palestini, Head of Innovation & Technology Adoption, D2IA (NSPA)
Space 4 Defence
Research keynote
Secure inter-satellite optical-wireless detection and sensing
Xavier Rottenberg, Fellow (IMEC)
Research panel
Panel discussion on Benelux cooperation opportunities
Inge Neven, CEO (VITO) · Jurgen Joossens, Deputy CEO (LIST) · Dr. Oana van der Togt, Business Manager Space (NLR) · Dr. Bilal Outirba, Research Engineer (ULB) & Liaison Officer (JRI4Space)
Moderator: Jeroen Rotteveel (ISISSPACE Group/SpaceNed)
Land
Innovation panel
The NATO DIANA Accelerator: from startups to impact
Julien Toussaint (Ignity)
Marëlle van Bijsterveld (BOM / The GATE Brainport)
Bernard Clermont (John Cockerill)
NATO
NATO session
Doing business with NATO
Marianne Roth, Chief of Acquisitions (NCIA)
NATO session
Doing business with NATO
Stacey Cummings, General Manager (NSPA)
Parallel tracks — Session 3 (14:15–15:15)
Maritime
Procurement session
Northern naval capability cooperation: challenges for Benelux industry
Paul Flos, Commandeur (COMMIT)
Procurement session
Maritime procurement by Belgium: naval acquisition priorities
Lt Cdr Pieter Vankeirsbilck, Belgian Navy · Lt Cdr Sabrina Bosmans, Belgian Navy
(C)-UAS
Research keynote
Incremental vs fundamental innovation: bridging the gap in UAS development
Joost Vreeken (NLR)
Procurement session
UAS procurement in the Netherlands: plans and priorities
Dick Goedhart (COMMIT)
Space 4 Defence
Procurement session
Belgium's current vision for space investments and projects for cooperation
Dr. Ir. Virginie Kubica, Deputy Chief Operational IT Systems (DGMR/Belgian Ministry of Defence)
Procurement session
Defence space programmes
Dr. Alain Dirkes, Attaché (Luxembourg Directorate of Defence)
Procurement session
Defence Strategy for Industry and Innovation: ambitions for space
Drs. Ing. Carla Andela, Policy Advisor Space Technology (Dutch Ministry of Defence)
Land
Procurement session
Strategic vision — investing in land capabilities
Lt Col Laurens De Strijcker (DGMR)
Networking
B2B matchmaking meetings
15:15–17:30 · coffee service throughout (15:15–16:15)
Networking reception
17:30–18:30