For operational security reasons, Latvia’s Ministry of Defence is not disclosing what specific additional air defence systems will be deployed to strengthen the country’s eastern border.
The deployment was first announced by Defence Minister Raivis Melnis following a meeting of the Military Council on 25 June. At the time, he also expressed gratitude to Ukraine.
“We have found a solution and will deploy additional systems in the near future. We need not only drones and radars, but also the integration of these systems and the training of our soldiers. We must also thank our Ukrainian allies,” Melnis said.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed to the LETA news agency today that the most effective and appropriate defence solutions will be used to reinforce the eastern border. However, due to operational security considerations, no detailed information about the types of systems or their technical specifications will be disclosed.
The ministry stressed that withholding such details is in the interests of public safety and national defence, as this information could otherwise be used to analyse Latvia’s defence capabilities.
As previously reported, the construction of counter-mobility infrastructure forms part of the Baltic Defence Line project, agreed by the Baltic states and Poland on 19 January 2024.
Since March 2024, the Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS) have been carrying out military fortification work along Latvia’s eastern border. The purpose of the defensive infrastructure is to deter, stop and, if necessary, eliminate a potential aggressor.
Latvia allocated €45 million to strengthening its eastern border in 2025, with a further €55 million earmarked for 2026.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, seven unmanned aerial vehicles have crashed on Latvian territory, while one drone was neutralised by NATO fighter jets.
The National Armed Forces have previously stressed that there is no basis for automatically assuming that all drones involved in these incidents originated from Ukraine.
One of the drone incidents last spring led to the resignation of then Defence Minister Andris Sprūds, and shortly afterwards the government of former Prime Minister Evika Siliņa also collapsed.