The downing of a foreign drone that entered Latvian airspace served as a confirmation of NATO’s resolve to defend every inch of the country’s territory. This was stated by Brigadier General Ilmārs Atis Lejiņš, Deputy Chief of Staff of the NATO Multinational Division North, on the Latvian Radio program Krustpunktā, as reported by UNN.
According to the general, the incident also demonstrated the growing capabilities of the Latvian armed forces and the effectiveness of cooperation with Alliance allies. At the same time, he emphasized that the development of drone technology forces the military to constantly adapt to new challenges.
“We are getting better every day using existing systems. And in the near future, we will implement new capabilities at an accelerated pace. By the end of the year, there will be twice as many as there are now. This is a real competition of systems. Drones are part of the new threats, so we will have to continuously adapt and learn,”
Lejiņš said.
He also spoke positively about the actions of the responsible services during the incident, emphasizing that they were able to promptly detect the threat, make the necessary decisions, and involve NATO fighter jets.
“Within 60 minutes, it was necessary to detect the target, assess the threat, make a decision regarding public notification, scramble NATO fighters, guide them to the target, identify it, and destroy it. This is proof that we are learning and that NATO confirms its resolve to defend every inch of Latvia,”
stated the Alliance headquarters representative.
Lejiņš added that the emergency public warning system and acoustic sensors for detecting aerial targets are relatively new to the country, so their integration and improvement are ongoing.
“It is one thing to purchase a system, and another to learn how to use it and integrate it with other defense elements. It’s not just about sensors, but also about the correct decision-making algorithm—from declaring an alert to guiding fighters to the target,”
he explained.
The general urged that the incident be viewed as an example of the successful operation of the security system.
As a reminder,
French fighter jets destroyed a drone that flew into Latvia. An orange alert level was declared in the border regions.