Lithuania begins acquisition of unmanned aerial vehicles

The Ministry of National Defence launched the acquisition procedure for 35 UAV systems.

The Ministry of Defense of Lithuania reported on this.

The plan is to purchase 26 sets of unmanned aerial vehicles of the “mini” type and 9 of the “small” type.

The total cost of unmanned aerial vehicles might be approximately €36 million.

The acquisition of these UAV systems should improve the intelligence capabilities of the Lithuanian military.

“Currently, the Lithuanian military does not have such unmanned aerial vehicles of military purpose and tactical level to execute the reconnaissance tasks,” said Arvydas Anušauskas, Minister of Defense, in his statement.

These drones are designed to detect and identify targets, track them, conduct artillery fire, control, and adjust fire control actions.

“The “mini” type weighs up to 20 kg with an effective range of up to 25 km and altitude of up to 1000 meters. The “small” type weighs over 20 kg with an effective range of up to 50 km and altitude of up to 1500 meters,” the Ministry of Defense of Lithuania shared.

The Lithuanian Defense Ministry has not yet disclosed potential companies that will be involved in the tender.

In addition to this deal, Lithuania plans to conclude another one: to purchase US-made Switchblade attack drones with the support of the U.S. government.

As previously reported, Lithuania will acquire 37 Polish-made kamikaze drones to hand them over to Ukraine.

In comparison with the ATGM, they will allow destroying the enemy equipment at a more significant distance, simplifying the process of detecting and hitting the target.