As smuggled meteorological balloons continue to pose a threat to civil aviation, the Commander of the Armed Forces (AF) of Lithuania, General Raimundas Vaikshnorais, stated that there are currently no clear solutions to combat them, and the means available to the military are too expensive to use for shooting them down.
"The Belarusian regime, (...) supporting smugglers, is taking advantage of the situation where there is currently no clear antidote (against smuggled balloons - BNS)," he said on Thursday in an interview with the radio station Ziniu radijas.
According to the general, the military is currently searching for and testing solutions from Lithuanian and foreign manufacturers to shoot down balloons, but so far they have not proven effective.
"We are looking for different ways (...). Our manufacturers, both national defense companies and international ones, are proposing various solutions and providing them to us. We are testing them in real conditions. (...) And some Ukrainian prototypes have been tested, (but - BNS) they do not always work," he assured.
According to the commander of the armed forces, there are currently no cheap ways to shoot down meteorological balloons that have invaded the country's airspace.
"More precisely, there are means, but they are very expensive. The question is whether we will (...) (shoot down - BNS) these potential objects, using weapons intended for destroying fighters or drones, which actually pose a greater threat to the citizens of Lithuania and the state itself. Will we use our arsenal to destroy balloons, thereby completely depleting and exposing our air defense?" said Vaikshnorais.
Vaikshnorais also urges manufacturers to continue proposing means of controlling the invading meteorological balloons, which, according to the commander, could be tested "today or tomorrow evening."
"Processes are underway, (but - BNS) we currently have no significant solutions," he pointed out.
BNS reported that on Wednesday evening and Thursday evening, operations at Vilnius Airport were suspended three times due to the threat of meteorological balloons to air traffic safety.
Recently, such incidents have become more frequent: operations at Vilnius Airport had to be suspended several times, and Kaunas Airport was closed once.
Earlier, Lithuania closed its border with Belarus due to a constant influx of balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes into the country.
Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene stated that the government reserves the right to close the border again at any time for an indefinite period if the Belarusian hybrid attack continues.
Lithuanian politicians refer to the invasions of smuggled balloons as a hybrid attack by Minsk.
The Ministry of Economy and Innovation announced a competition for the development of measures to combat meteorological balloons. On Monday, it was announced that the most advanced solutions were proposed by the companies IT logika, Teltonika, and Dangaus ļūdis.
In the first stage, each of them will receive a prize of 100,000 euros, and their proposals will undergo testing: the technology must be able to detect and neutralize balloons. A working prototype is expected to be ready by February next year.
