'Elite officers, but their hands are tied': Lithuania's slow shift to drone warfare
Lithuanian military experts warn that the armed forces are adapting too slowly to drone-driven changes in modern warfare, with bureaucracy blamed as the main obstacle despite the creation of a new drone unit.
Debate over Lithuania's defence spending is often framed as a simple choice between tanks and drones. But experts argue the real issue is whether the country is adapting fast enough to the technological shifts reshaping modern warfare.
Artūras Plokšto, a lecturer at the Military Academy of Lithuania, drew a parallel with the First World War, when new technologies such as machine guns, trenches and radio communication—already visible in the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War—were dismissed by European generals as irrelevant to their own forces. The result was eleven million military and thirteen million civilian deaths.
For years, Lithuanian officers reportedly viewed the growing use of drones as characteristic of less-developed militaries, including Ukraine's. That assumption is increasingly difficult to defend: Iran has used cheap drones against costly US bases and infrastructure, while Iran-backed groups in Lebanon have used FPV drones to damage Israeli military assets.
Ernestas, a Lithuanian volunteer serving in Ukraine as both infantryman and drone pilot, said the Lithuanian military's overall level has improved, but at squad and platoon level the mindset still reflects outdated, high-casualty approaches that ignore the threat drones pose to concentrated troops and equipment.
In May, the Lithuanian Armed Forces launched a drone unit under the historic ANBO name, bringing together various units working on unmanned technology. Plokšto stressed that the speed of adopting innovation is decisive in staying ahead of adversaries.
Bureaucracy blamed for delays
Several figures, including Ovidijus Kuzminas, commander of a drone unit within the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union, and retired colonel Gintaras Ažubalis, pointed to bureaucracy and peacetime-era procedures as the main obstacle, rather than a lack of skilled personnel or manufacturing capacity—Lithuanian producers already supply equipment used successfully in Ukraine.
Analyst Romas Judinas noted that while the military now acknowledges the problem, an attitude persists that no progress can occur without a formally approved document. He argued the armed forces need greater flexibility, since effective warfare requires creativity.
