Hundreds of Lithuanians have chipped in together to buy new loitering ‘kamikaze’ drones for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Some €1 million have been raised to buy Polish-made Warmate loitering munitions.
Lithuania’s defense minister Arvydas Anušauskas has said his country will use funds raised in a crowdfunding campaign to buy 37 Warmate drones for the Ukrainian army.
“Part of the funds collected by Legion Of Boom (1,000,000 euros) will be transferred to the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense and will be used for the purchase of 37 kamikaze drones from Poland and then sent to Ukraine. Thank you everyone, who made donations!,” Arvydas Anušauskas said.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said last month that Polish-made drones were “powerful support” for troops defending his country against Russian attacks on the front lines.
Part of the funds collected by #LegionOfBoom (1,000,000 euros) will be transferred to 🇱🇹 Ministry of National Defense and will be used for the purchase of 37 kamikaze drones from 🇵🇱 and then sent to 🇺🇦. Thank you everyone, who made donations! #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/9Fxx7pj8rH
— Arvydas Anušauskas (@a_anusauskas) August 26, 2022
Top Ukrainian top officials have repeatedly praised the performance of Polish unmanned aerial vehicles in the war against Russia, according to Polish news outlets.
Warmate is a loitering munition, also commonly called a “suicide drone.” It is a small, vaguely plane-shaped unmanned system with a centrally-mounted wing and a v-tail, which weighs, at most, just under 12 pounds. The drone has a top speed of just over 90 miles per hour and can remain aloft for around 70 minutes, on average.
The system design permits its installation on vehicles (cars, APCs) and integration of the Ground Control Station and the Ground Data Terminal with onboard vehicle systems. The Warmate constitutes a good alternative for anti-tank guided missiles with its capability to operate in a significantly larger radius, allowing comfortable detection and observation of the potential target in a relatively large time span.