Another NATO ally is acquiring an American-made interceptor drone that has been battle-tested in Ukraine. The move will boost the alliance’s air defenses along the Russian border.
Lithuania’s national defense ministry announced Wednesday that it is purchasing the Merops system to strengthen its air defenses, adding that Vilnius “has approved a simplified process: bureaucracy and lengthy procurement must not stand in the way.”
Merops is a counter-drone system that launches a small interceptor, costing $15,000 apiece, to hunt down and destroy targets such as the Iranian Shahed-136 or its Russian-made variant, the Geran-2.
Developed by the American initiative Project Eagle, Merops was first deployed to Ukraine, where it has intercepted more than 1,000 strike drones launched by Russian forces.
Last year, Poland, an ally on NATO’s eastern flank that shares a border with Russian territory, and Romania, which, like Poland, borders Ukraine, purchased and deployed the Merops system after Russian drone incursions into alliance airspace. Lithuania is now the third European ally to acknowledge purchasing the system.
Lithuania’s national defense ministry did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s queries on how many Merops systems and interceptors it plans to purchase.
Merops is flexible — interceptor drones launch from mobile platforms like a pickup truck or from ground stations — and can be operated by a small crew trained in days.
Soldiers use off-the-shelf Xbox controllers to operate the Surveyor, a propeller-powered interceptor that can reach over 175 mph and uses artificial intelligence to navigate areas saturated with electronic warfare. It can destroy targets by colliding with them or exploding in proximity.
Lithuania’s acquisition of Merops comes as NATO’s front-line forces are seeking ways to reduce the cost of air defense in the face of a growing drone threat across Europe, with numerous airspace violations in recent months.
For Lithuania and its allies, Merops is a far more cost-effective air defense option than multimillion-dollar missiles, which NATO fighter jets used to counter the threat when Russian drones violated Polish airspace in September.
Outside of Europe, the US military also operates the Merops system and deployed it to the Middle East in early March amid Iranian missile and drone attacks in the region following the start of Operation Epic Fury.
The US Army has deployed dozens of Merops systems — including a ground control station, radar, launcher, and interceptor — and more than 1,000 armed and unarmed interceptors to the Middle East.
A US defense official told Business Insider that more interceptors are on the way. Last week, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said the US purchased 13,000 Surveryor interceptors within the first few days of the Iran war and sent many to the Middle East.
The acquisitions by the US and Lithuania come as NATO forces show rising interest in the development and fielding of interceptor drones, which have been pioneered by Ukraine to counter the regular Russian drone attacks on its cities and civilian infrastructure.
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