Indra's Counter-UAS System Deployed in Lithuania Draws the Attention of NATO's Eastern Flank Countries

Indra’s counter-UAS system, which protects the deployment of the Spanish contingent in Lithuania under NATO, is attracting significant interest among countries in the region. Various delegations, including one from Lithuania, have visited the system to learn about its advanced capabilities and exchange experiences with the Spanish military.

The system protects the Vilkas Tactical Air Detachment, made up of nearly 200 military personnel, 11 F-18 fighters and an A400M tanker aircraft, from the threat posed by frequent incursions of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and unidentified balloons originating from the Russian and Belarusian environment.

Spain’s Ministry of Defence decided last December to reinforce the protection of the Spanish mission with Indra’s counter-UAS (C-UAS) system, which since then has provided a protection and surveillance bubble over the area. It is a system that the company continues to evolve within the ARACNE project, developed in collaboration with EM&E Group.

In recent weeks, several delegations from Northern and Eastern European countries have traveled to learn firsthand about the system, with the Air and Space Force receiving support from Indra engineers deployed on-site.

This interest is particularly relevant as it comes at a time when not only these countries are strengthening their air defenses, but the European Union itself has launched a major initiative to deploy a counter-drone “drone wall” over more than 3,000 kilometers to protect the EU’s entire eastern flank. Achieving this requires a solution capable of seamlessly combining a heterogeneous set of surveillance systems, sensors and effectors based on very different technologies.

One of the key strengths of the system developed by Indra is its advanced command-and-control system, which provides robust intelligence for threat identification and is designed to easily integrate all kinds of sensors, effectors and command systems, regardless of manufacturer.

Indra has been a pioneer in the development of advanced counter-drone solutions—a complex capability that requires deep knowledge across multiple technologies, as it integrates electro-optical systems, communications, electronic warfare, command and control, artificial intelligence, and soft- and hard-kill actuators.

The system currently operated by the Spanish Armed Forces is one of the most advanced in Europe and is prepared to operate in the harshest climatic conditions. It is also a solution that has proven its effectiveness in other operational environments, such as the deployment in Mali under a European Union mission, and it is used by other countries as well. In civilian environments, Indra’s system was deployed as part of the security arrangement for the NATO Summit held in Madrid in 2022 and, more recently, to protect the presidential handover in Chile.