Visit by Monsignor Luc Terlinden to the Royal Military Academy (RMA): a day focusing on Belgian Defence missions, science and humanity

On 26 May 2025, Monsignor Luc Terlinden, Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, honoured the Renaissance campus with his presence during a special day dedicated to scientific and academic research.

A joint initiative between the RHID and the RMA

The day was the result of a close collaboration between the Royal Higher Institute for Defence (RHID) and the RMA.
Its aim was to promote exchanges between representatives of the military, scientific and spiritual worlds. The event underlined the training, research and strategic reflection missions carried out by these two central institutions of the Belgian Defence.

Highlights of the morning: presentation of the RHID’s missions

After being welcomed by Rear Admiral Coppieters de Gibson, Director General of the RHID, and Major General De Potter, Commander of the RMA and Commander of the military academies, Monsignor Terlinden attended a presentation on the various services provided by the RHID.

Presentation on the RHID’s missions

Colonel Eric Kalajzic, Director of the RHID’s Security and Defence Department, took the opportunity to explain the High Studies for Security and Defence (HSSD), a multidisciplinary training programme for around 30 auditors from various backgrounds (civilian and military) each year. He also presented the Centre for Security and Defence Studies (CSDS), the Belgian Defence think tank, whose analyses inform political and military decision-makers.

Colonel Genouw then gave a brief explanation of the overall structure of the Scientific and Technological Research of Defence (STRD) Department, which provides valuable support in the areas of research, technology and innovation for the Defence sector. He was assisted by five domain managers from his team, who each presented a state-of-the-art scientific project funded by the RHID:

• For the Protection of Personnel, Systems and Infrastructure section, Ruben Maes presented an experimental device combining explosion and fragmentation in order to test protective materials, with the aim of improving the resilience of military equipment and infrastructure.
• Lieven Van de Vondel, who coordinates the Data Acquisition and Processing domain, presented a project carried out in collaboration with the universities of Lille, Prague and Troyes.
• Our representative for Human Factors and Medicine, Lucie Geurts, presented the STATS project: a set of monitoring tools designed to predict fatigue and improve the performance of soldiers.
• Claudia Verheyen, representing the Autonomous Systems and Artificial Intelligence domain, presented a cutting-edge project on the development of autonomous ground combat vehicles, with AI applications such as predictive maintenance, port protection, mine clearance, etc.
• Finally, Margo Degreef, our Innovation Manager, presented all the platforms developed in recent years in collaboration with European institutions to accelerate innovation in Europe.

Colonel Lauwereys, Director of DIRS (Defence, Industry and Research Strategy), concluded the presentation on the structure of the RHID. DIRS is Belgium’s long-term strategy to support its scientific, technological and industrial potential in the field of security and defence, particularly in the following areas:

• Naval, land, air and space technologies;
• Advanced military health;
• Unmanned intelligent systems;
• Cyber defence;
• Advanced materials, energy and the environment;
• Emerging and disruptive technologies.

Mass celebrated by Monsignor Terlinden

The visit of Monsignor Luc Terlinden, Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, was marked by a solemn mass celebrated by himself in the presence of military and academic authorities. This spiritual moment highlighted the human and ethical values that underpin military commitment: service, responsibility, solidarity and peace.

Presentation of the RMA: training the officers of tomorrow

During her presentation, Major General De Potter detailed the mission of the RMA, Belgium’s only military university, which provides both initial training for future officers and continuing education. Monsignor Terlinden could learn about the academic training programmes (bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees) and the upward trend in enrolment figures, which reveal the appeal of these courses to young people.

The RMA is also establishing itself as a dynamic research centre, with 140 projects underway, 170 researchers and 215 publications in 2024. The work covers fields ranging from ballistics to cyber security, nuclear fusion and UAVs, much of which is carried out as part of research facilitated by the RHID.