The Netherlands Armed Forces are the military services of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The core of the armed forces consists of the four service branches: the Royal Netherlands Navy, the Royal Netherlands Army, the Royal Netherlands Air Force and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. The service branches are supplemented by various joint support organisations. In addition, local conscript forces exist on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba (AruMil) and Curaçao (CurMil). These operate under the auspices of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Netherlands Marine Corps. The armed forces are organisationally part of the Ministry of Defence.
Chief of Defence general Onno Eichelsheim during the acceptance ceremony of the command over the Netherlands Armed Forces, April 2021
HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën during exercise At-Sea Demo/Formidable Shield 2021 on the Atlantic Ocean
Troops of 11 Air Assault Brigade disembarking a CH-47 Chinook in Mali
RNLAF F-35A Lightning II during cannon trials in October 2018
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Kingdom of the Netherlands, commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The realm is not a federation; it is a unitary monarchy with its largest subdivision, the eponymous Netherlands, predominantly located in Northwestern Europe and with several smaller island territories located in the Caribbean.
Historic Area of Willemstad, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, the reigning monarch of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and his wife Queen Máxima of the Netherlands (2013)
