In March Armada reported that the governments of the United Kingdom and Belgium had concluded an agreement to establish a joint electronic warfare centre. This agreement is now yielding results.
The establishment of what has been referred to as the Joint Electromagnetic Warfare Support Centre 2.0 (JEWSC 2.0) was given the go-ahead following a decision by Belgium’s Federal Council of Ministers. The council is the Belgian government’s cabinet and the country’s highest political executive body. As Armada’s March report noted, the centre’s tasks will include weapon system data reprogramming, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support. An additional mission will be the development of a counter-uninhabited aerial vehicle system test centre. The establishment of the JEWSC 2.0 is a result of a deepening of the cooperation between Belgium and the UK announced in May 2025.
Project Societas
In early April, QinetiQ revealed that it would be working with the Belgian Ministry of Defence (MOD) to help establish the JEWSC 2.0. The company will provide technical expertise, training and support drawing on its experience with the UK MOD’s Project Societas initiative. Project Societas aims to deepen the partnership between UK industry and the country’s Joint Electronic Warfare Operational Support Centre (JEWOSC). The JEWOSC is located at the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) RAF Waddington airbase in eastern England. It provides operational electronic warfare support to the UK military, allied partners and UK industry. As reports note, QinetiQ is providing EW mission data and services to the UK MOD via Project Societas.
JEWSC 2.0
QinetiQ is supporting the Belgian Ministry of Defence as it stands up the JEWSC 2.0 says Tim Elliot, the company’s sales and business development director. According to Mr. Elliot, the Belgian MOD has shown a keen interest in the UK’s JEWOSC facilities and wants to develop a similar capability. Likewise, there has been significant interest in Brussels in Project Societas. QinetiQ’s work is bringing these two elements together. In terms of deliverables, the company is providing “leadership, the integration expertise and (assistance developing) the hardware, software and ecosystem (for the JEWSC 2.0) … so that (the Belgians) can take EW data that is being generated and then use it more effectively as mission data to enhance survivability and the ability to fight”. Mr. Elliot adds that QinetiQ is assisting the Belgians in standing up a capability “they just do not have at the moment”.
Alongside QinetiQ, several Belgian companies are involved in the activation and operation of the JEWSC 2.0. These include Antwerp Space, Belgian Advanced Technology Systems, Citymesh, IMEC and Senhive among others. “All of them have got some relevant expertise across people, hardware, software and mission data” notes Mr. Elliot. “We are taking our expertise and then helping to upskill the Belgians” to implement and run the centre.
International applicability
Over the longer term, Mr. Elliot foresees the work QinetiQ is achieving with Project Societas and Belgium’s JEWSC 2.0 as something that could generate interest in other allied nations, possibly leading to similar acquisitions: “This is a great story of collaboration across NATO partners”, Mr. Elliot argues. Although the international sharing of signals intelligence can sometimes be restricted by national classification levels there will be occasions when data can be shared between the UK and Belgium. Collaboration in this regard “enhances the viability of both countries’ assets. There are checks and guardrails to ensure that nothing gets shared that should not, but both countries are really treating this with the right level of openness to make this as effective as possible”.
Armada has been told by a senior Belgian MOD source that the JEWSC 2.0 will be collocated at the new Belgian MOD headquarters currently under construction near NATO’s headquarters in northeast Brussels. Mr. Elliot says that QinetiQ expects to support the Belgian MOD in the activation and operation of the JEWSC 2.0 for a minimum of five years. The centre’s initial operational capability is expected to be declared by the end of this year, with full operational capability following by the end of 2027. Over the long term, QinetiQ hopes to work with its Belgian counterparts to continually develop the centre’s capabilities. “We want to be good partners, and we’ll look to support Belgium for as long as they need our expertise”.
by Dr. Thomas Withington
