(Adnkronos) – Drone lessons for seven thousand Lithuanian children and teenagers, as part of a program that will involve 22 thousand citizens. The initiative is from the Ministries of Defense and Education, to strengthen the response capacity in case of a Russian threat. “Expanding civil resistance training” is the government’s goal, which will train more than 22,000 people, including students, in drone operation techniques. The program will be divided by age groups, with third and fourth grade students, aged between 8 and 10, who will learn to build and pilot simple drones, the government said. While high school students will be required to learn how to build and pilot drones at an advanced level.
The project, which will be conducted by the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union in collaboration with the education agency, will cost the government 3.3 million euros in specialized equipment, including indoor and outdoor first-person view drones, control systems and video transmission and a mobile app for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) training. “We expect 15,500 adults and 7,000 children to acquire drone control skills by 2028. In September we will open drone control centers in Jonava, Taurage and Kedainiai, and six more for training in other regions by 2028,” said Defense Minister Dovilė Sakaliene.
