Investor says local drones are being adopted slowly in the Baltics — ERR News

In Estonia, investor in unmanned systems James Acuna said that the armed forces of the Baltic countries are slow to adopt locally produced drones. According to him, this is one of the reasons for the small number of developers of such systems in the region.

As ERR News reports, there are approximately 20 to 30 developers of unmanned systems operating in the Baltic countries. Acuna, CEO of Ondas Capital, noted that manufacturers need a domestic market, but the region's military leadership is still slow to adopt such systems. In Estonia, he linked this to the lack of an established drone ecosystem.

Presentation at the Port of Muuga

Manufacturers of unmanned systems from Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia presented their equipment at the Port of Muuga near Tallinn. About 50 people gathered on the pier for the demonstration. The planned launch of an unmanned maritime vehicle was canceled due to unfavorable weather conditions.

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The equipment demonstrated included ground unmanned vehicles of various sizes, as well as quadcopters that emitted colored smoke. In particular, a small ground drone made by Ark Robotics, a Tartu-based company founded by a Ukrainian, was shown.

Latvia's experience and ground drones

Acuna believes that Latvia has made greater progress in creating a drone ecosystem. According to him, the country, together with the United Kingdom, co-chairs the Army of Drones initiative intended to supply drones to Ukraine and has secured nearly €500 million from 15 EU countries for this area.

A representative of Ark Robotics, who identified himself as Vello, said that their small ground drone was used during a recent Ukrainian operation near Lyman in Donetsk Oblast. According to him, aerial drones delivered ground vehicles behind enemy lines. He also noted that production capacity should reach thousands of units per month, but, in his assessment, neither NATO countries nor Ukraine have yet reached that level.