The Defence Materiel Agency under the Ministry of National Defence has signed contracts to procure different drone systems – small class surveillance uncrewed aircraft systems from a Latvian company Edge Autonomy, mini class surveillance drones from an Estonian Threod Systems, and micro class drones (quadcopters) from Deftools UAB.
The procurements total to nearly EUR 36 million. Most of the drones will be delivered this autumn and the remainder – in early 2025.
The acquisitions are implemented as a matter of urgency to strengthen the UAV capability and integrate it in the Lithuanian Armed Forces as soon as possible. All types and military dimension of combat systems and enablers are developed in the Lithuanian Armed Forces. Acquisition and integration of UAVs is among key priorities in the effort to have modern armed forces, therefore its development of gathering pace after 15 years of attention to the area. The Armed Forces is enabled with existing and further developed drone capabilities which will be integrated through a training system already put in place.
Approx. EUR 200 million is planned to be dedicated for drone of all types procurements until 2030, the average of EUR 30 million a year.
Photo credit: A. Pliadis/MoD