Lithuania plans to spend EUR 30 million (USD 32.6M) annually on developing its unmanned aerial vehicle systems, reveals Deputy Minister of National Defence Žilvinas Tomkus following a hearing of a parliamentary committee.
A meeting of the Seimas Committee on National Security and Defence took place on Friday to consider the matter. Tomkus noted that Lithuania would spend not only its own national funds to develop its drone capabilities but would also use US aid earmarked for the Baltic States.
Arūnas Kumpis, a Lithuanian volunteer fighting in Ukraine who attended the sitting, said that the Ministry of National Defence has done nothing in applying drone technologies in the Lithuanian Armed Forces and has not learned from the experience of the war in Ukraine.
Chairwoman of the Board of the National Defence Industries Association (NGPA), Erna Suslavičiūtė, stressed that cooperation between companies, the Armed Forces and the Ministry of National Defence must be improved and the military must present its strategic vision to the defence industry.
MP Laurynas Kasčiūnas in turn emphasised that Lithuania needs a breakthrough in unmanned aerial vehicles systems on a monthly basis and thus has to overstep bureaucratic boundaries when developing them.
Photo: Deputy Minister of National Defence Žilvinas Tomkus
Source: Delfi