The mission of the four museums is to give a place to the military story and the story of soldiers. We do this by allowing as many people as possible to experience the armed forces in the present and the past, because war and conflict are inextricably linked to the world in which we live and therefore to us.

The armed forces fulfill an important core task of the government. It is essential for the social legitimacy of the armed forces – as well as for the motivation of the men and women who work there – that a substantial part of society is aware of the why of an armed force and can form an opinion about on which the armed forces carry out its tasks. That is why the defense museums offer a window into the past, present and future developments of the armed forces, in a way that is not without obligation.

The National Military Museum was created from a merger of the Army Museum in Delft and the Military Aviation Museum in Soest. To safeguard both collections for the future, the Army and the Air Force decided to build a joint, new museum. The Marine Museum in Den Helder, the Marine Museum in Rotterdam and the Museum of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee in Buren were also housed in a joint foundation. The foundation of the Royal Defense Museums Foundation was a fact.