By Benas Gerdžiūnas, LRT.lt.
As Lithuania invests in tanks, the debate is often framed as a simple choice: would the money be better spent on drones? But experts say the bigger question is whether Lithuania is adapting quickly enough to the technological changes transforming modern warfare.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, wrote in 2023, comparing the war in Ukraine to the stalemate in the First World War, when new technology met outdated doctrine.
Artūras Plokšto, a lecturer at the Military Academy of Lithuania, made a similar comparison during a “Būtent” discussion, Tanks or drones?.
“In the 1904 Russo-Japanese War, we saw machine guns, trenches, howitzers and radio communications. In Europe, the great generals said there are some ‘savages’ fighting there, things will be different for us, and our cavalry will solve the whole thing by Christmas.
“Then the First World War began, and it turned out it was not funny at all. Eleven million soldiers and 13 million civilians were killed,” he said.
Read more: LRT.LT
