Lithuania has started testing Sky Fortress, an airspace surveillance system developed in Ukraine to counter drones, the Lithuanian Minister of Defence Robertas Kaunas said.
“The nature of aerial threats is changing rapidly as technology develops, so we adapt our solutions accordingly. Instead of developing everything from scratch, we apply systems that are already used in Ukraine,” the minister explained.
Capabilities of Sky Fortress
According to the Lithuanian Defence Ministry, Sky Fortress uses artificial intelligence to detect and track low-flying drones and unmanned aircraft by their acoustic or electromagnetic signatures. The system can immediately classify detected objects, which can speed up response times and improve airspace protection.
Why Lithuania is testing the system
Ukraine, now in its fifth year of defending against the Russian invasion, has become one of the world’s leading countries in drone warfare, and Lithuania is adopting solutions that have been field-tested there.
The move follows a series of drone-related incidents in the Baltic states during the war. On several occasions, drones launched by Ukraine against targets in northwestern Russia were disrupted by Russian air defences, became diverted and entered the airspace of a Baltic state before crashing. In addition, Russian drones have flown into Lithuanian airspace from Belarus.
Lithuania says the purpose of testing Sky Fortress is to respond to rapidly evolving aerial threats with effective, proven technologies and thereby strengthen regional airspace surveillance and response capabilities.
