Quick Response Drone Facility opens in Netherlands to accelerate UAS development
NewsMay 29, 2025
MARKNESSE, Netherlands. The Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) opened a new research facility focused on rapidly developing uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) in collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of Defence, the organization announced in a statement.
The Quick Response Drone Facility (QRDF), launched on May 21, aims to deliver operational drone prototypes within four to six weeks of a request, the statement reads. NLR says the QRDF will support defense needs by enabling faster testing cycles and shortening time-to-field for uncrewed technologies, particularly in response to evolving battlefield threats like signal jamming.
According to the statement, the facility will rely on close cooperation with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups to support short-cycle innovation. It will also act as a foundation for a broader Centre of Excellence for UAS near NLR’s Marknesse site, where companies will have access to restricted airspace, composite manufacturing testbeds, and urban drone flight simulators for product development.
The initiative is part of a larger national defense strategy to make R&D infrastructure more accessible and to enhance domestic production of defense technologies, the statement says.
