Lithuania is set to soon sign a contract on the acquisition of new combat drones from the US, Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas has said.
“One more contract will be signed in the next few days with the manufacturer Switchblade 600. These are combat drones with a combat range of 40 kilometres,” Anušauskas told LRT TV on Monday.
According to the minister, Lithuania “will be the first country in the world”, apart from the US, to acquire these drones.
Last week, Lithuania also signed a 495 million US dollar contract with the US on the acquisition of High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers.
Asked about the Russian president’s visit to Belarus, which started on Monday, Anušauskas said that although the security situation in the region has not changed, the threats have not disappeared.
“At the moment, the security situation in Lithuania and the whole of our region has not changed. It remains the same as it was at the beginning of the war [...]. There’s currently no threat of a conventional attack against NATO countries,” the minister said.
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