Lithuania considers drone shoot-downs based on radar data

Lithuania is considering whether drones could be shot down using radar data without visual confirmation, LRT reported. Legal experts say international law does not require a target to be identified visually, but all possible precautions must be taken.

The State Defence Council discussed the issue after Italian fighter jets serving a NATO mission shot down a Russian drone in Kaišiadorys district in mid-September. The pilot first saw the drone himself. Former Lithuanian Air Force commander Edvardas Mažeikis said visual identification helps prevent mistakes.

Poor weather can make it difficult for pilots to see a drone. Poland has already changed its response procedures, allowing a pilot or operations commander to decide to shoot down a foreign aircraft based on radar data, Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk said. He added that threats were likely to increase.

Lithuania is considering a similar option. President Gitanas Nausėda said even a very small possibility that a target could be a light aircraft with no contact with air traffic control could lead to irreversible consequences. Small aircraft may not have transponders, and Mažeikis said radar can make it almost impossible to distinguish them from drones travelling at 120 to 140 kilometres per hour.

International aviation rules say states should refrain from using force against civil aircraft and should first identify them, attempt radio contact and use visual signals. But these are not absolute requirements when identification is based on intelligence and information from multiple sources, said Gabija Grigaitė-Daugirdė, a lecturer at Vilnius University’s Faculty of Law.

Mažeikis said Lithuania’s current equipment may not always be enough to identify a hostile drone accurately. He said it was important for at least two, and preferably three, radars to detect a target. If a drone entered an area covered by short-range radars, a shoot-down might be permitted, he said; without that coverage, it would be more difficult.

In peacetime, the use of force is assessed according to the threat and necessity, Grigaitė-Daugirdė said. The assessment may differ if an object is heading towards critical infrastructure, while using force against one flying towards a city could raise greater questions of proportionality. Mykolas Romeris University professor Justinas Žilinskas said clear procedures would help demonstrate that all precautions had been taken.

Mažeikis cautioned that routinely shooting down aircraft without visual identification, even in good weather, could prompt airlines to reconsider flying to Lithuania. Still, he said, the option should be available as the number of Russian and off-course Ukrainian drones increases. Decisions would be made by air control centres in Lithuania and Germany, rather than by pilots, and may also require approval from the country’s leaders.