Lithuania to deliver thousands of FPV drones to its army, Ukraine

MILAN — The Lithuanian government will supply thousands of locally-made, first-person-view drones to the Ukrainian and Lithuanian armed forces as part of a major investment in a low-cost capability that is reshaping modern combat.

The Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense has announced a $1 million contract with Vilnius-based drone company Granta Autonomy, founded in 2015, for its new GA-10-FPV-AI quadcopter platform.

“The new unmanned aerial vehicles form part of a larger €8 million defense procurement initiative involving several additional Lithuanian drone manufacturers,” the Lithuanian authorities said in a press release.

Overall, 2,300 drones will be delivered to the Lithuanian military and 5,000 units will be donated to Ukraine, pooled together from selected Lithuanian companies, with the first deliveries expected to arrive in the war-torn country by the end of this month.

This marks the first time that the Granta Autonomy GA-10FPV-AI platforms will be delivered to both armies, a company representative told Defense News, with almost 1,000 drones included in the contract.

The drones feature a quadcopter frame with vertical take-off and landing capabilities and the ability to carry a maximum payload of 3 kilograms, per company information.

In August, the Lithuanian defense ministry had announced that combat drones manufactured by five Lithuanian firms had passed the tests put together by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense to simulate a front-line environment and would be chosen to be sent to troops.

According to the local news network LRT, an initial batch of drone had previously failed such a test.

The GA-10-FPV-AI is advertised as being able to operate autonomously in GPS-denied environments, customizable for different video transmission frequencies and camera types.

Ukrainian FPVs have grown in importance in recent months on the battlefield, hailing successes of striking Russian attack helicopters as well as armored vehicles.

Experts have predicted that the future use of FPVs in combat is expected to involve them operating in swarms or groups to overwhelm adversary defenses on the cheap.

Lithuania has paid attention to these developments, having announced over the summer that its armed forces are undergoing a specialized course at training instructors to operate FPVs as well as plans to equip all military branches with these drones.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——立陶宛政府将向乌克兰和立陶宛武装部队提供数千架本地制造的第一人称视角无人机，这是立陶宛政府对低成本作战能力进行重大投资的一部分，这项投资正在重塑现代战争。

立陶宛国防部宣布与总部位于维尔纽斯的无人机公司 Granta Autonomy（成立于 2015 年）签订了一份价值 100 万美元的合同，用于购买其新型 GA-10-FPV-AI 四旋翼飞行器平台。

立陶宛当局在一份新闻稿中表示：“这些新型无人机是价值 800 万欧元的更大规模国防采购计划的一部分，该计划还涉及其他几家立陶宛无人机制造商。”

总共将有 2300 架无人机交付给立陶宛军方，另有 5000 架无人机将捐赠给乌克兰，这些无人机由选定的立陶宛公司集中采购，预计首批无人机将于本月底抵达这个饱受战争蹂躏的国家。

据《防务新闻》报道，该公司一位代表表示，这是格兰塔自主GA-10FPV-AI平台首次交付给美军和美军，合同中包含近1000架无人机。

据该公司信息显示，这些无人机采用四旋翼机架，具备垂直起降能力，最大有效载荷为 3 公斤。

8 月，立陶宛国防部宣布，由五家立陶宛公司制造的作战无人机通过了乌克兰国防部组织的模拟前线环境的测试，将被选中交付部队使用。

据当地新闻网络LRT报道，首批无人机此前曾未能通过此类测试。

GA-10-FPV-AI 的宣传卖点是能够在 GPS 信号受限的环境中自主运行，并可根据不同的视频传输频率和摄像头类型进行定制。

近几个月来，乌克兰FPV在战场上的重要性日益凸显，它们在打击俄罗斯攻击直升机和装甲车辆方面取得了成功。

专家预测，未来FPV在战斗中的应用预计将涉及它们以集群或群体形式运行，以低成本压倒敌方防御。

立陶宛一直关注着这些发展，并在今年夏天宣布，其武装部队正在接受专门的培训课程，以训练教官操作第一人称视角无人机，并计划为所有军事部门配备这些无人机。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。