According to him, the drone should have been shot down over a safe area because there is a war going on close to Latvia’s borders and Latvia is committed to investing large amounts of money in the military defense of the eastern border.
“We are building fences, placing barbed wire, building anti-tank ditches, deploying anti-tank means, but at the same time we are sending drones across the border, which fly many kilometers in the territory of Latvia,” the expert stated rhetorically.
Speaking about the most appropriate course of action, Maklakovs reminded that NATO patrol planes are stationed in Latvia, which are on a mission to patrol the Baltic airspace. Also, the Air Force has helicopters that must be on 24-hour standby. However, as far as Maklakov knows, these helicopters are not equipped with machine guns.
The NBS has the means to shoot down low-flying drones from the ground, such as the “RBS-70” short-range air defense system. It is not known whether these devices were located in the specific districts of Latgale and at the specific time during the weekend, Maklakovs admitted.
The expert also doubts what the officials said at the press conference on Monday, that the NBS saw this “Shahed” flying robot in time, because it is a low-flying target and special radars and devices are needed to detect it.
“I also question the fact that NBS was able to monitor the entire territory of Latvia,” added Maklakovs.
The NBS has the means to detect such a drone, but the question is whether they were in the specific region, as their range of operation is limited.
“There are a lot of questions and uncertainties. It’s true, there is no guarantee whether the drone would be able to be shot down before the fuel ran out,” Maklakov emphasized.
Taking into account this incident near the eastern border, the Latvian air defense systems should be further developed so that they can be used to detect and respond to targets flying to the ground, Maklakovs emphasized. At the same time, it is said that the capabilities of helicopters should be developed so that they can react and shoot down such targets from the air.
When asked whether he was confused by the statement of the NBS management at the press conference on Monday that the drone still in the air did not have “evil purposes”, Maklakov, as a former NBS commander, replied that he would not like to comment on the statement of the current NBS management.
Asked to explain the chain of command, which should make the decision to shoot down the drone, Maklakov replied that, in his opinion, the decision to use weapons against a low-flying object in peacetime is still a political responsibility or under the control of the Minister of Defense.
According to Maklov, we can prepare for more similar incidents when Russian aircraft cross the border illegally.
As reported, on September 7, a Russian “Shahed” type drone equipped with explosives, which was aimed at Ukraine, but came to Latvia from Belarus, fell on September 7 in Gaigalava parish in Rēzekne district.
The NBS monitored the situation, but no decision was made either to shoot down this drone or to take the NATO fighter jets on duty in Latvia into the air. When the drone fell, the unexploded warhead was deactivated.
According to the NBS management, the information obtained so far shows that the arrival of the drone in Latvia cannot be regarded as an open military escalation against Latvia.
The National Security Council agreed on Tuesday to “update and improve the necessary procedures” to implement a more effective response to security threats posed by drones.
2024-09-11 05:01:29