In light of recent unauthorized incursions of balloons and drones from Belarus, Lithuania is rapidly advancing its airspace defense capabilities as of November 2025. Over a dozen Lithuanian firms have proposed modern systems for detecting, monitoring, identifying, and neutralizing aerial threats, with government plans to finalize selections and begin deployment within six months. Some tested systems abroad will be adapted for national use, addressing a capability gap as only South Korea and Israel currently have comparable solutions regionally. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is preparing procurement specifications to oversee integration and testing over the next half year. Earlier in autumn, meteorological balloons smuggling contraband and intelligence-gathering balloon sonden have disrupted airports, prompting this accelerated defense innovation effort. The most promising solutions will compete for a one million euro prize. The initiative demonstrates Lithuania’s commitment to strengthen national and regional air defense amidst growing hybrid threat concerns from Belarusian incursions.
Category: Military & Paramilitary Operations
Subcategory: High-Tech Military Tools
Incident Type: Drone swarms & UAV surveillance
Country: Lithuania
Source report: mezha.net/eng/bukvy…
