Taking into account events in Ukraine, Latvia must introduce capability of unmanned aerial vehicles at a tremendous pace - NAF commander

RIGA - Taking into account the events in Ukraine, Latvia must acquire and rapidly introduce the capability of unmanned aerial vehicles, developing these functions in units down to the lowest level, the Commander of the National Armed Forces Leonids Kalnins admitted to the Ministry of Defense's sargs.lv news portal.

He reminded that the use of unmanned aerial vehicles by the Latvian Armed Forces is nothing new. "Already in 2007, specialists from Latvia and I began to develop the need for unmanned aerial vehicles to perform tactical tasks," added the commander.

Already in 2018, the introduction of Penguin-type reconnaissance drones at the level of NAF brigades was followed by the procurement of smaller class drones.

The National Guard has been developing the capabilities of drones since 2019, and already in 2020, the first training of operators lasting several days took place.