NATO to present integrated air and missile defence in Šiauliai

NATO’s integrated air and missile defence will be presented at the Šiauliai Air Base on Wednesday, LRT reports.

NATO decided in July to replace its air policing mission in the Baltic states with an air defence mission. The allies moved to the new operating model in August.

The Ministry of National Defence says the change allows NATO to deploy its capabilities more flexibly and quickly where they are most needed. The mission is part of the alliance’s integrated air and missile defence system, which includes fighter jets, ground-based air defence systems, sensors, surveillance equipment and command structures.

Representatives of NATO air force commands, the Lithuanian military and allied forces stationed in Lithuania will attend the presentation.

Italy’s armed forces are currently carrying out the NATO air defence mission in Lithuania. In mid-September, their fighter jets shot down a drone that had entered Lithuania from Belarus, in Kaišiadorys district near the Kruonis pumped-storage power plant.

Authorities have issued alerts about possible air threats in Lithuania in recent months as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues. The drone was the first to be shot down over Lithuanian airspace; Latvia and Estonia had done so earlier. NATO countries began sending troops and fighter jets to protect Baltic airspace in March 2004.