Lithuania build nine drone training centres by 2028
In Lithuania, the Ministries of National Defence and Education, Science and Sports are launching a drone control and construction skills development project for the general public and schoolchildren.
The first three drone training centres will open in Jonava, Tauragė and Kėdainiai in September 2025, and by 2028, another nine centers will be operating throughout Lithuania.
The project will support 15,500 thousand adults and 7,000 children acquire drone control skills through the implementation of the training programme.
This programme aims to strengthen public competences in the fields of drone control and engineering, while expanding civil resistance training. The training for adults will be conducted under the auspices of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union together with the Lithuanian Non-Formal Education Agency, which will also train students from grades three to 12.
Programme content will be tailored to different age groups. Over the course of one school year, as many as 300 students in one region will gain drone piloting and construction skills. Ukrainians have come to familarise themselves of these types of skills with instructional courses via the Zoom video application and producing drones from small and discreet warehouses, converted barns, cellars, or even their own living rooms according to a GlobalData analyst briefing.
The youngest – students in grades three to four – will be engaged in the construction and piloting of simple drones through practical experiments and games. Meanwhile, in junior high schools, students will be taught an introduction to programming and piloting first-person view (FPV) drones indoors and building from components. High school students will design and manufacture 3D drone parts, learn to construct and pilot FPV drones, and participate in regional and national competitions.
“Unmanned aerial vehicle technologies are now an integral part not only of science and industry, but also of everyday life,” noted Valdas Jankauskas, Director of the Lithuanian Non-Formal Education Agency. “We are launching this project to give the younger generation the opportunity to get to know this field from an early age.
“Such programmes develop not only technical skills, but also creativity, the ability to solve problems and a responsible attitude towards the use of technology. I am convinced that these skills will be valuable both for future engineers and for every civically active person,” he empasised.
Total investment in the project amounts to more than €3.3m ($3.8m), of which the Ministry of National Defence will allocate more than €600,000 for the establishment of the nine forthcoming centres.
