Lithuania reached a deal with a Polish company to purchase the Warmate loitering munition system. The so-called kamikaze drones will be handed over to Ukraine, Lithuania’s Ministry of Defence says.
The agreement was concluded between Vice Minister of Defence Vilius Semeska and Poland’s WB Group in Warsaw.
The Defence Ministry will broker the drone purchase using money raised by people in Lithuania.
“We have agreed with the manufacturers that the money raised by the public to purchase the loitering munition system from Poland will be used to buy two complete sets, including the launching system and 37 units of loitering munitions, the so-called kamikaze drones,” the vice minister said in a statement.
These drones are capable of carrying explosives and destroying tanks and command posts, and the need for these drones has been coordinated with the Ukrainian army, Semeska says.
The systems are expected to be delivered by the manufacturers in October-November.
The easily transportable Warmate kamikaze drones weigh around 5.7 kg and can operate at a range of 30 km and attack at 150 km/h.
“These drones are characterised by their extraordinary responsiveness, as they can be task-ready in less than five minutes,” the ministry said.
The funds for the purchase were raised by the journalist and influencer Andrius Tapinas. His initiative called Legion of Boom raised over 2 million euros, and half of it would be used to purchase the Warmate loitering munition system.
The rest will be used to buy Ukrainian kamikaze UJ-23 Topaz drones made by UkrJet.
In July, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence handed over a Bayraktar TB2 combat drone to the Ukrainian army. The aircraft was purchased following another public fundraising campaign, also initiated by Tapinas. However, its Turkish maker Baykar eventually decided to donate the drone, with 1.5 million euros from the donated money used to equip it. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
