The guidance block of the Russian Shahed-type drone that crashed in Gaigalava Parish of Rezekne was destroyed, according to what Chief of Latvian State Border Guard Guntis Pujāts told LTV programme Rīta panorāma.
When reminded of this incident and asked if the equipment of the State Border Guard could have dealt with a Shahed-type drone, Pujāts explained that in this particular case the guidance block was destroyed. This means there was not way to take over the drone remotely.
The equipment of the State Border Guard was procured with the purpose of disconnecting operators and taking over drones, which is possible only if the guidance block is intact, explained Pujāts.
He also explained that the State Border Guard received information about the aforementioned case too late – after the drone had already crashed.
“We weren’t involved the moment it had entered our air space,” said Pujāts.
He stressed that this situation has been discussed and in several cases after this incident, timely information has been received when there have been suspicions about an aircraft near the Latvian border.
As previously reported, on the 7th of September, a Russian Shahed-type drone crashed in Gaigalava parish of Rezekne. Latvian National Armed Forces claimed they were monitoring the situation, but no decision was made either to shoot down this drone or to deploy NATO fighter jets on duty to intercept it. This caused an uproar from residents.