A drone alert that left NATO fighter pilots unable to identify an object through clouds has prompted Lithuania to begin consultations on changing when aircraft may fire.
Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius told LRT on Monday that he had ordered the consultations. He said current procedures prevent pilots from shooting at an object they cannot see, even if it appears on radar. One option under consideration would leave the decision to national authorities under their own laws. No change has been approved.
NATO jets responded after an unidentified object entered Lithuanian airspace Sunday. Reuters reported that Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center said the pilots made no attempt to shoot because the weather prevented them from confirming what they were tracking visually.
LRT reported that authorities issued red alerts in Šiauliai and Panevėžys counties and a yellow alert in Kaunas. All three ended about an hour later.
Lithuanian officials subsequently identified the object as a Ukrainian drone. As earlier coverage of the drone’s crossing from Poland into Lithuania reported, it exploded and left wreckage near Juodžioniai in Pasvalys district. Debris struck a moving car, but its occupants were unharmed, Lithuanian news agency ELTA reported.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) apologized for the incident. It said Russian electronic warfare may have diverted the drone during a Ukrainian operation aimed at military targets in Russia.
Sinkevičius said the review was expected to proceed within about a month.
