Lithuania’s Defence Ministry and military are pursuing an ambitious plan to integrate mobile phones, surveillance cameras, radars and other sensors into a single artificial intelligence-powered airspace monitoring system, following a series of incidents involving drones and heightened concerns over regional air defence.
The initiative comes as officials point to recent security incidents, including a Russian missile that landed in Poland and drones entering or approaching Lithuanian airspace. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said the missile incident underscored the need to strengthen air defense capabilities.
Last year, Russian-made Gerbera drones were detected in Lithuania. This year, Ukrainian drones headed toward targets in Russia have also crossed into the Baltic state. In several cases, objects either crashed on their own and were recorded by civilian surveillance cameras or disappeared from radar tracking and were never found.
“We have a clear vision and concept for implementing an integrated, rather than fragmented, air defence system,” Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said.
Kaunas said Ukrainian experts had reviewed the concept.
