Lithuanian startup rushes strike drones to Ukraine – in fluffy padding

VILNIUS, Lithuania — Less than 200 kilometers from Belarus and about 300 kilometers from Russia, a sleek all-white Lithuanian drone factory with 40 employees works around the clock, sending hundreds of drones to Ukraine.

Granta Autonomy’s latest innovation is its vertical take-off and landing X-Wing loitering munition, which was unveiled this year and has already been tested by Ukraine, with hundreds of units on order. The strike drone is equipped with a four-kilogram warhead and will be integrated with Ukrainian-made components, including electronics used on navigation systems.

“Recently tested in Ukraine against their own jammers, it took off, navigated, and was successfully controlled,” Laurynas Litvinas, technical director at Granta Autonomy, told Defense News during a visit to the company’s facilities on Nov. 19. “Battlefield testing closer to the frontline is planned for the near future.”

Its warhead contains shrapnel for softer targets like radars and anti-aircraft systems, but its size also makes effective against harder targets such as main battle tanks.

According to the company, it recently flew up to an altitude of 6,000 meters in tests carried out in Lithuania. The system does not require any infrastructure to launch, and several drones can be launched simultaneously.

Over the last few weeks, Lithuania closed its border due to incursions by weather balloons flying from Belarus that disrupted air traffic and even prompted the closing of the capital’s airport on multiple occasions. Lithuanian officials have said the balloons were reportedly flown by smugglers transporting contraband cigarettes and called it a form of “hybrid attack.”

The Baltic state has ramped up its drone defenses by testing, procuring and developing a wide-range of new capabilities. These investments have been in response to increased border incursions, including an incident in July where Shahed-type drones entered Lithuanian airspace, and the broader conflict in Ukraine.

Granta Autonomy is drawing on its first-hand experience on the Ukrainian battlefield to fuel its systems development and deliver technology to the Lithuanian armed forces.

According to Litvinas, the company sent over 1,000 drones to Ukraine last year, including 100 of its Hornet XR intelligence drones and around 1,000 GA-FPV quadcopters used across multiple units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

“Russia is our common enemy, for us it’s crucial to travel to the frontline to put our systems to the test, perform experiments and get direct exposure to see how they operate in such conditions,” he said.

On-the-ground experience is central to the company’s approach, helping drive operations in Ukraine and ensuring every detail of weapon security is considered.

“It comes down to the tiniest considerations – for example, the packs that the drones are transported in. In the combat zone, roads often don’t exist. Vehicles forge new paths along the side, but they are very bumpy, and you have to drive at 120–150 km/h, or an FPV drone can kill you,” Litvinas said.

“Being there made us realize we had to upgrade the foam in the transport suitcases to keep all the drone spare parts secure,” he added.

The Hornet XR uses the same datalink as the X-Wing, which was developed in-house by the manufacturer and is reportedly effective against Russian jammers, according to Litvinas.

The components of the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drone are sourced mostly from Lithuania and other European Union countries. The aircraft is designed to operate even when radio-frequency and GPS signals are jammed.

Litvinas noted that a key challenge his drones are facing in Ukraine is operating in fog and bad weather, especially during winter.

Strong winds can cause smaller aircraft to drift, making them easier to detect with thermal cameras. In conditions of poor visibility, many drones rely more heavily on GPS or radio datalinks, which makes them more vulnerable in environments with intense jamming.

“If you cannot operate where your enemy has jammers, tests are useless. Most countries don’t even have jammers equivalent to those we see on the frontline, and many are easy to bypass. If so, how can you claim your drones are resilient to jamming?” Litvinas asked.

Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication with details about the new drone’s warhead characteristics.

Lithuanian startup rushes strike drones to Ukraine – in fluffy padding

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