The Lithuanian military has brought together its leading drone experts to form a special new unit, while the armed forces on the ground are also set to receive a major boost with over 900 Patria armoured personnel carriers.
Until now, the name ANBO had been associated exclusively with Lithuanian aviation history – the aircraft designed by General Antanas Gustaitis and his innovations. Once, ANBO stood for “Antanas Nori Būti Pre” (Antanas wants to be in the air). Today, ANBO stands for the Autonomous Remote Unmanned Operations unit.
The military has consolidated its drone capabilities into a single force with its own command structure and objectives. More importantly, ANBO is designed for offensive operations.
“[We are interested in] the area more than 100km deep into enemy territory. We are already talking about prototypes by Granta Autonomy and Rheinmetall with a range of 200km. Those are the kinds of distances we are discussing, targeting objectives in hostile territory and thereby shifting the battlefield into enemy territory,” said Raimundas Vaikšnoras, commander of the Lithuanian armed forces.
The war in Ukraine has led the Ukrainian military to introduce a separate branch dedicated to drone warfare alongside its land, naval and air forces. Russia, meanwhile, has established Rubikon, a specialised drone force responsible for developing innovations and new products and testing them directly on the battlefield.
