Lithuanian military plans to develop reconnaissance drone capability within 3 years

The Lithuanian Armed Forces are planning to develop a reconnaissance drone capability within three years and are procuring combat unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as an integral part of anti-tank defence.

Procurement procedures for small and micro reconnaissance drones for military use are currently underway or will be launched shortly, LRT reports.

These acquisitions are being made based on Lithuania’s intelligence concept plan approved in 2017, military officials say.

“We will have a fully developed capability at brigade, battalion, up to division, company level. This should be implemented over the next three years,” Colonel Rolandas Greibus, head of the Development Planning Board of the Defence Staff, told BNS.

Chief Planning Officer Major Šarūnas Savukaitis says the procurement of small-type (15-150 kg) UAVs is currently in the final stage, and the procurement of mini-type (2-15 kg) drones will be resumed soon.

Military units could purchase micro UAVs of up to 2 kg on their own. Additionally, a significant centralised procurement of these drones will be announced this year.

According to Savukaitis, Germany and the US can offer mini-type drones, and the US and Latvia can offer small-type ones, so Lithuania “has choices”.

Greibus noted that the Armed Forces are buying not only the equipment but also training and logistics packages. According to him, this makes the UAVs procured by the Armed Forces more expensive than many of the drones used in the war in Ukraine.

He also pointed out that personnel training takes time, as operating drones requires training for an entire unit.

“You get the equipment and the weapons, and it can take up to three years to form a fully prepared unit,” Greibus said.

He noted that combat drones would be used in conjunction with anti-tank capabilities: “We see the combat use of these UAV systems in conjunction with anti-tank units, [...] as an integral part of the anti-tank capability.”

In December 2022, the Lithuanian Defence Ministry signed a contract for the acquisition of Switchblade 600 combat drones from the US, with the first batch expected to be delivered this year. The total value of the contract is around 45 million euros.

Lithuania started paying more attention to drones amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, where both sides are using UAVs for various tasks ranging from reconnaissance to destroying enemy targets.

Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chair of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence, said last Friday that the committee would propose a greater role for UAVs in the National Defence Development Program currently under discussion in the parliament.