Overview
- The Defence and Education ministries have allocated over €3.3 million to launch three drone-training centers this September, with plans to expand to nine by 2028 and train 15,500 adults and 7,000 children.
- The age-tailored curriculum ranges from hands-on drone-building games for primary pupils to 3D-part design and First-Person-View piloting for upper-school students.
- Officials cited recent security incidents, including a Belarus-launched explosive drone crash near a Lithuanian base, as justification for bolstering civilian resilience.
- Former prime minister Andrius Kubilius warned that national preparedness against large-scale drone threats remains below required levels.
- Critics argue the programme risks militarising minors and could conflict with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, even as Estonia and Latvia roll out similar youth initiatives.