The Latvian National Armed Forces (NAF) will soon receive several new radars for detecting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), state-run LSM television reported, citing Kaspars Pudans, commander of the Latvian NAF.
According to him, the equipment was selected based on recommendations from the Ukrainian military and experience in using similar systems in modern warfare. Pudans noted that some of the existing anti-drone systems in the Latvian military are similar to those used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
On May 21, the Latvian National Armed Forces reported the detection of at least one unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the skies over the country; its origin was not specified. On May 23, a UAV of unknown origin crashed into a lake in the southeastern Baltic republic, exploding.
On May 19, the press office of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) reported that authorities in Kiev had persuaded Riga to agree to a drone operation against Russia. According to the SVR, Ukraine justified the move by saying that "the exact location of the drone launch would be impossible to determine." Latvian authorities agreed to the operation despite fears that they would "fall victim to Moscow's retaliatory strike," the SVR said.