Lithuania seeks NATO talks on shooting down drones without visual confirmation

Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said on Monday that his country wants to open consultations with NATO, the North Atlantic military alliance, on changing procedures. The aim is to let military aircraft shoot down objects that violate Lithuania's airspace even when pilots cannot identify them visually. In his view, this would improve the response to drone threats.

Sinkevičius told LRT that he had asked for the consultations to begin and that they would probably take place within a month, so that the current algorithm can be reviewed.

Why current rules are a problem

The prime minister explained that fighter pilots can detect objects on radar but may be unable to see them because of cloud cover or poor weather. Under existing procedures, force cannot be used against an object if its identity is not confirmed visually. Sinkevičius said the rules could be revised to give countries more discretion. Lithuania could then decide by itself to shoot down an object detected by radar even without visual confirmation.

Sunday's incident

The proposal follows an incident on Sunday in which a drone flew into Lithuanian airspace from Poland. NATO fighter jets were scrambled, but the pilots did not see the object and could not confirm it was a drone, so it was not shot down.

Debris from an explosion was later found in the village of Juodžioniai in the Pasvalys district of northern Lithuania. Lithuanian officials said the drone was Ukrainian and carried explosives. Ukraine apologised for the incident, saying the drone may have been diverted by Russia.