Lithuania is contemplating launching home manufacturing of naval drones in cooperation with Ukraine, Lithuanian Deputy Protection Minister Dovile Sakaliene instructed Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi on Might 6.
Beneath a “1+1” mannequin, Lithuania would fund the manufacturing of two drones, maintaining one for its personal protection and sending the opposite to Ukraine. The nation is especially serious about Ukraine's Magura-class sea drones, which have been used with success towards Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
"Magura, for my part, is a superb navy product," Sakaliene mentioned.
The proposed initiative would contain shared weapons manufacturing on Lithuanian soil, with Vilnius masking the prices.
"That’s, we pay for the manufacturing of two items of apparatus, one in every of which is transferred to Ukraine, and the opposite stays in Lithuania, however we cowl the fee for each," she defined.
Earlier this 12 months, Lithuania allotted 20 million euros ($21 million) in buying weapons for Kyiv from Ukrainian producers. Sakaliene emphasised that Lithuania sees nice potential in nearer cooperation on applied sciences like missile and naval drones.
"We imagine that cooperation in sure areas associated to missile drones, sea drones, and different applied sciences is actually very promising," she mentioned.
The Magura drones are small, unmanned floor vessels developed by Ukraine, and have turn out to be a key asset within the nation's naval warfare. Although small in dimension, they've confirmed efficient towards bigger warships, serving to maintain Russia’s Black Sea Fleet pinned in port.
On Might 2, Ukraine's navy intelligence company (HUR) used Magura-7 sea drones geared up with air-to-air missiles to shoot down two Russian Su-30 fighter jets close to the port metropolis of Novorossiysk, HUR chief Kyrylo Budanov instructed The Warfare Zone on Might 3.
The operation was the primary time in historical past that fighter jets have been downed by unmanned naval drones.
The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy
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