An unidentified radar track prompted an air alert around Lithuania’s capital and a NATO fighter search on October 3. Vilnius airport temporarily closed its controlled airspace, affecting 12 flights. The warning was lifted after roughly 40 minutes. Officials said the object had not been identified and could have been birds or another anomaly rather than a drone.
NATO air-policing fighters were dispatched on October 3 after a possible drone alert near Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital. The airport’s controlled airspace temporarily closed. National crisis management officials said an unidentified radar track had prompted the response; initial assessments suggested it could have approached from the direction of Belarus.[1], [2]
The warning covered Vilnius County and the area around Ukmergė, a Lithuanian town, for approximately 40 minutes. Crisis centre head Vilmantas Vitkauskas said the radar track disappeared in Vilnius District and the object was not found. He distinguished residents’ sightings towards Jonava from confirmed air-defence radar information.[1]
Vitkauskas said the initial parameters did not fully match drone-flight characteristics. A flock of birds or another anomaly remained possible. The alert ended without establishing that a drone had entered the country’s airspace. No state’s responsibility was established.[1]
The airport operator counted 12 affected flights: one diverted to Kaunas, three cancelled and eight delayed. Passengers arriving in Kaunas were taken to Vilnius by bus. Lithuania’s rail operator said trains continued, while retailer Maxima temporarily paused some operations in the alerted areas.[1]
