Lithuania is in talks with Ukrainian manufacturers on the production of marine and missile drones, Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene has announced.
“We all like the Magura drone,” the minister told BNS in reference to the Ukrainian sea drone that had proved to be effective in striking Moscow’s ships and installations in the Black Sea and Russia-occupied Crimea.
The Magura V5 marine drone, which resembled a speedboat, was launched in 2023. It reportedly has a top speed of 80 km/h and a payload of 320 kilogrammes.
“This is one of the weaponry elements we are really talking about with the Ukrainians, and we’ll see what we can achieve,” she said.
According to the minister, Lithuania is looking into acquiring new weaponry on a one-plus-one basis, where half of the equipment is paid for by Lithuania and will be transferred to Ukraine.
She refrained from providing more details as to where and how many armaments could be produced under such a model.
“Secondly, we are also financially supporting the Ukrainian defence industry, and we have allocated 20 million euros for this purpose, and we will see what can be done in the future,” the minister said. (LRT)