Lithuania says technologies to counter Belarusian contraband balloons ready in a month

VILNIUS - Minister of Economy and Innovation Edvinas Griksas said the technologies would be ready for use in at least a month, as three companies develop solutions to counter threats from contraband balloons from Belarus and unmanned aerial vehicles.

"It will take a little longer, at least another month or so, for the solution itself to be fully suitable (for use - BNS)," the minister told reporters on Friday.

Griksas said last December that he expected a working technology to be ready by February. On Friday, he insisted the process was not stalled and emphasized the extreme complexity of the solutions being developed.

In the first phase, the most advanced solutions were proposed by the companies IT logika, Teltonika, and Dangaus sviesos.

Each company received 100,000 euros and first tested their technological solutions at the Pabrade training ground, where their functionality and practical applicability were evaluated.

The ministry launched a 1 million euro call for businesses last October to propose ideas on how to protect Lithuanian airspace from contraband balloons.