Lithuania’s Ministry of Defence announced on Friday that it is testing the Ukrainian-developed SkyFortress airspace monitoring system, designed to detect low-flying drones and other aerial threats.
The pilot deployment of SkyFortress is intended to strengthen the first stage of Lithuania’s air defence system — detecting and tracking potential threats before they can be intercepted.
“Airborne threats are evolving rapidly, so we are adapting our solutions accordingly. Instead of developing everything from scratch, we are adapting systems that are already operating in Ukraine,” Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said to LTR.
According to the ministry, SkyFortress uses artificial intelligence to detect and track low-flying drones and cruise missiles based on their acoustic and electromagnetic signatures. The system is also capable of classifying detected objects in real time.
Under the contract signed this summer, the project includes processing data collected by the system’s sensors using digital libraries of acoustic and radio-frequency signatures based on unclassified data, as well as personnel training.
The tests will assess the system’s ability to detect and identify low-flying drones over Lithuanian territory.
The system is being deployed as Lithuania and other Baltic states strengthen their airspace security in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine and an increasing number of reports of potential aerial threats in the region.
Lithuania’s Ministry of Defence said SkyFortress would help strengthen the country’s overall air defence capabilities, from detection and identification to the interception and neutralisation of aerial threats.
