Latvia has updated its rules for intercepting drones following a failed attempt to shoot down a drone that entered the country's airspace last week, Latvian Defense Minister Reivis Melanis said, according to Delphi.
The military will streamline its decision-making process to enable a faster response. The intercept teams operating in the field have been given more authority and can now operate independently.
The command center can still cease operations if allied aircraft are in the threat area and their safety is in jeopardy. In the past, the need for additional coordination with allied aircraft caused delays.
Melanis noted that additional radars were installed along Latvia's eastern border to detect drones earlier. Since the interception system was only deployed at the end of September, the military is still learning how to operate it.
On November 1, Latvia launched a Blaze interceptor drone against an unidentified drone entering Belarus. The target crossed the Latvian-Russian border, prompting the military to activate the Blazes self-destruct mechanism near the Russian border to avoid breaching it.