According to Lithuania's Armed Forces (Lietuvos kariuomenė), Latvia is transferring AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel air-surveillance radars to Lithuania free of charge, expanding the target-detection capacity available to Lithuania's NASAMS batteries. The transfer was made at US suggestion; Latvia has opted for different systems to meet its own air-defence requirements. Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas confirmed the acquisition on 16 July 2026, describing the radars as directly enabling NASAMS engagement operations.
Photo: Lithuanian Armed Forces / kariuomene.lt. NASAMS air defence system deployed in Lithuania.
The SENTINEL radar is the sensor that tells NASAMS where to shoot
The AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel is an X-band phased-array search-and-track radar designed specifically to cue surface-to-air missile batteries against aerial targets including aircraft, cruise missiles, and UAVs. Without an active Sentinel radar feeding target data to a NASAMS fire-control unit, the battery has limited ability to engage targets at the distances and altitudes the system is rated for. Minister Kaunas stated that the incoming radars "will help react more effectively to potential threats," which is a direct reference to closing that sensor gap rather than adding missile launchers.
Lithuania operates NASAMS as its primary medium-range air-defence system. Expanding the number of associated Sentinel radars increases the volume of airspace the system can simultaneously survey and the number of simultaneous tracks available to operators during an engagement.
Latvia transferred the radars because it uses a different air-defence architecture
Latvia reached the decision to transfer at US suggestion. The US recommendation is consistent with a standard NATO burden-sharing logic: rather than surplus equipment sitting in storage, it moves to an ally that can integrate and operate it inside an existing system. Latvia's air-defence portfolio has evolved toward platforms other than NASAMS, making the Sentinel units available for reallocation without degrading Latvian coverage.
The transfer is described as gratuitous (neatlygintai) — Lithuania receives the hardware at no cost. Minister Kaunas thanked both Latvia and the United States "for uninterrupted cooperation in strengthening regional security."
Baltic air-defence assets are increasingly shared rather than siloed
The Latvia-to-Lithuania Sentinel transfer is one expression of a broader Baltic pattern: air-defence hardware is pooled and reallocated across the three countries rather than procured and held nationally in isolation. The mechanism here is a bilateral transfer approved by the original supplier (the US), which is the standard route for FMS-origin equipment moving between allies. Lithuania's NASAMS network grows without a new procurement cycle; Latvia avoids storage and maintenance costs on hardware it does not plan to operate.
AirVeto's live map covers the Baltic airspace zone where NASAMS operates. The wind layer and incident reconstructions at /lt/dronai-lietuvoje document recent drone and airspace events in the same zone this system defends.