Defence minister says drone-detection radars have arrived in Lithuania but deployment delayed

Some of the radar systems intended to detect low-flying drones have already arrived in Lithuania, but their integration and personnel training are causing delays, Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said on Tuesday, as reported by LRT.

Speaking on the LRT Television programme Dienos tema, Kaunas acknowledged that while the equipment is in the country, setting up complex defence technology requires time. “Part of the radars are already in Lithuania today and are being integrated into the system. When you acquire sophisticated equipment, you first need to learn how to operate it—this takes planned time, with support from vendors and partners,” he said.

The minister also noted that integrating new devices into existing defence infrastructure presents additional technical challenges. “I understand that everything seems to take forever, and I’d love to just go, buy, bring, install, and have it work immediately. Unfortunately, that’s not possible,” he added.

Kaunas previously stated that additional radars for low-altitude drone detection have been ordered and are expected to arrive between 2026 and 2028. Lithuania plans to establish a full detection ecosystem by 2030, with €500 million allocated for the project last year.

His comments follow an incident in Varėna district on Monday night, where an unmanned aerial vehicle crashed but was not detected by military radars. Authorities later identified it as a Ukrainian drone that had gone off course, reportedly en route to a Russian oil depot.