Vilnius expects first anti-drone contracts this year

Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas expects the city to announce its first contracts this year for acquiring new anti-drone air defence capabilities, LRT reported Tuesday.

The city is currently conducting a procurement process under an agreement with the Public Security Service to protect critical infrastructure, including power plants, heating facilities, water supply facilities and waste management system sites.

“We still have to complete everything in accordance with the law. Public procurement procedures are mandatory even for such facilities,” Benkunas said. He added that he believed the first contracts could be announced this year.

Vilnius Municipality and the Public Security Service signed a cooperation agreement in November last year to strengthen the capital’s protection. It provides for closer cooperation in protecting critical infrastructure and airspace, with particular attention to threats posed by unmanned aircraft.

“We want to create what are known as anti-drone forces to help protect strategically important facilities together with the Public Security Service. We are taking initiatives on our side,” Benkunskas said.

The mayor said he had not received information from the special services indicating that the security situation had fundamentally changed. He said municipal and other government authorities were informed about possible increased threats, but that the city did not control the specific intelligence.

In early August, the defence minister said Lithuanian intelligence had information that Russia was considering possible provocations in the Baltic region, including attacks on critical infrastructure. Ukrainian drones could be used in such operations to simulate a so-called false flag operation, the minister said.

After information emerged in late July about possible Russian operations against critical infrastructure in the Baltic states, Lithuania strengthened the protection of strategic facilities indefinitely. The protected facilities include the liquefied natural gas terminal in Klaipėda, the LitPol Link electricity connection with Poland, a transformer substation in Alytus District and the Kruonis hydroelectric pumped-storage plant.

Airspace violations have also been recorded for several months in the Baltic states and Finland after Russian forces diverted Ukrainian drones from their course. The Kremlin has accused the Baltic states of allowing their territory to be used for Ukrainian military operations.