{"id":518777,"date":"2026-02-18T22:26:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T19:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=518777"},"modified":"2026-02-19T08:56:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T05:56:30","slug":"lithuanian-army-trains-to-neutralize-weather-balloons-at-altitudes-of-5-6-km","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/lithuanian-army-trains-to-neutralize-weather-balloons-at-altitudes-of-5-6-km","title":{"rendered":"Lithuanian Army Trains to Neutralize Weather Balloons at Altitudes of 5\u20136 km"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Lithuanian army is testing systems designed to destroy weather balloons used for smuggling. According to the country\u2019s Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas<\/b>, the military faces the task of hitting targets at altitudes of 5\u20136 kilometers, Delfi reports<\/a>, citing BNS.<\/p>\n

Speaking to journalists, the head of the defense ministry emphasized that the current tests help assess progress in protecting the airspace.<\/p>\n

\u201cTesting shows where we stand and that we are moving forward. We are waiting for the results and a consolidated report, because visually hitting targets is one thing, but we need to obtain data and develop a path for further improvement of systems in order to achieve the final goal: that balloons are reachable not only at altitudes of several hundred meters but specifically at altitudes of 5\u20136 kilometers,\u201d<\/i> the minister said.<\/p>\n

According to him, not only Lithuania but also \u201cthe whole world is searching for ways\u201d<\/i> to counter weather balloons.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to have preventive measures, because today cigarettes are attached to balloons, but at any moment something far more dangerous could be attached instead. Therefore, we see the need to obtain solutions to counter them,\u201d<\/i> the defense minister said.<\/p>\n

Earlier it was reported that practical testing of technologies took place at the Pabrad\u0117 training ground as part of the C.U.A.S. February 26 exercise. During the maneuvers, representatives of the security and defense industry demonstrated equipment for detecting, intercepting, and destroying kamikaze drones and aerial balloons.<\/p>\n

Representatives of government agencies, the scientific community, and venture funds observed the exercise. As the army emphasized, the goal of these test exercises is to help institutions responsible for planning and procurement select the most effective solutions to counter aerial threats.<\/p>\n

Attention to airspace protection in Lithuania intensified after incidents last summer when two Russian Gerbera drones entered the country\u2019s territory. The situation is further complicated by regular launches of smuggling balloons from Belarus, which have repeatedly disrupted operations at Lithuanian airports.<\/p>\n

At the end of October last year, the Ministry of Economy and Innovation allocated \u20ac1 million to procure innovative solutions for protecting the sky from weather balloons. By November, the ministry had received 35 applications from businesses, from which the most effective technological solution is expected to be selected and purchased.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Lithuanian army is testing systems designed to destroy weather balloons used for smuggling. According to the country\u2019s Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas, the military faces the task of hitting targets at altitudes of 5\u20136 kilometers, Delfi reports, citing BNS. Speaking to journalists, the head of the defense ministry emphasized that the current tests help assess […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/6996a61341bc3.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"Lithuanian Army Trains to Neutralize Weather Balloons at Altitudes of 5\u20136 km"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142338],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-518777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}