NATO jet scrambled over Lithuania following false drone sighting

Vilnius International Airport was temporarily closed on Sunday following a suspected drone sighting in Lithuanian airspace. The alert prompted authorities to scramble a NATO fighter jet to investigate the potential security threat.

The aircraft was deployed from Siauliai in northern Lithuania, where the Italian air force is currently stationed as part of the NATO Baltic Air Defence mission. According to the National Crisis Management Centre, the jet conducted a visual identification of the object, which was subsequently confirmed to be a flock of birds rather than an unmanned aerial vehicle.

The air alert was lifted and operations at the airport resumed within 38 minutes of the initial closure. Officials explained that radar readings can often be ambiguous, noting that the marks left by birds and drones on initial scans can appear similar.

This incident occurs amid heightened regional sensitivity regarding airspace security. Military drones straying into the airspace of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have recently sparked concerns that the ongoing war in Ukraine could spill over into NATO’s northern borders with Russia.

European and NATO officials have expressed increasing concern over Russian provocations throughout the past year. In August, a NATO fighter jet operating on an air policing mission shot down a drone that had entered Romanian airspace after crossing from Moldova. Additionally, reports from the Ukrainian border indicate that a Russian drone struck near the town of Yahodyn, located less than one kilometer from the Polish border, during the same weekend.