Lithuania joins U.S. and Poland in buying Merops interceptor drones

Lithuania’s Ministry of National Defense announced Wednesday that it is acquiring the Merops AS-3 Surveyor counter-drone system from U.S. manufacturer Perennial Autonomy, including 48 interceptor drones, as part of an accelerated procurement process approved by the Lithuanian Government.

The purchase marks another step in Vilnius’s push to field capable air defenses against the same drone threats that have reshaped the battlefield in Ukraine.

The acquisition covers one complete Merops AS-3 Surveyor system complex, along with 48 interceptor unmanned aerial vehicles — all without warheads. The 48 drones are split evenly between two variants: 24 units equipped with a thermal seeker and a training parachute, and 24 units equipped with a radio frequency seeker and a training parachute. The contract also includes training services and radar integration support.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas made clear why his ministry moved quickly. “Lithuania’s air defense is one of our cornerstone priorities and most important tasks — to ensure the ability to detect, the ability to see, and of course the ability to respond if any threats emerge,” he said during the government session. “This acquisition is exactly about that.” On the specific system chosen, Kaunas was equally direct: “We want to acquire a functioning, proven, Ukraine-tested interceptor system — Merops — which allows for cost-effective combat against unmanned aerial systems: Shaheds, Gerberas, and various analogues.”

The Lithuanian Government also approved a simplified procurement process for the purchase, removing standard bureaucratic steps that would have extended the timeline. As Kaunas put it, bureaucracy and lengthy procurement procedures must not stand in the way of defense acquisitions. That decision reflects a broader pattern across Baltic and Eastern European states, where governments have increasingly granted their defense ministries expedited contracting authority to respond to the accelerating pace of aerial drone threats.

The Merops AS-3 Surveyor is a counter-drone system built around the concept of intercepting hostile unmanned aircraft using purpose-built interceptor drones rather than traditional kinetic weapons or electronic jamming alone. The system is designed to detect, track, and physically intercept small unmanned aerial systems — the category of threat that includes Iranian-designed Shahed loitering munitions and similar one-way attack drones that have been used extensively in the war in Ukraine. By using interceptor drones rather than expensive missiles, the system is designed to defeat cheap drone threats at a cost that does not bankrupt the defender. The two seeker variants — thermal and radio frequency — allow the system to operate across different environmental conditions and against drones using different navigation methods, giving operators flexibility in how they engage incoming threats.

The reference to Ukraine in the minister’s remarks is not incidental. The Merops system has been tested in active combat conditions in Ukraine, where the drone threat environment is among the most demanding in the world. For a small NATO nation like Lithuania — with limited defense budgets and a geographic position that places it directly in the shadow of potential Russian aggression — fielding a system with a verified combat record carries weight that no amount of manufacturer marketing can substitute for. Acquiring something that has already worked against the specific threats Lithuania expects to face is a fundamentally different proposition than procuring an untested capability.

Lithuania is not alone in its interest in this system. The United States and Poland have also procured this type of interceptor drone, reflecting a wider recognition across NATO that cost-effective counter-drone solutions are among the most urgent capability gaps the alliance needs to close.