NATO fighter jets failed to shoot down a drone over Lithuania

As reported by Interfax, NATO fighter jets were scrambled from the airbase in Šiauliai, Lithuania, to search for a drone that had entered the country’s airspace on Wednesday night. The head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC), Vilmantas Vitkauskas, told LRT, Lithuania’s national television and radio portal, that the aircraft detected the object, but were unable to shoot it down.

According to Vitkauskas, the fighter jets were in fairly close contact with the drone. He added that the reasons for the failed attempt to shoot down the object should be clarified through comments from the military.

Later, the drone left Lithuanian territory and flew to Latvia. Air alerts were declared in several regions of Lithuania.

Operations at the airports in Vilnius and Kaunas were suspended.

Sources

• Interfax