Children across Europe are learning firearm skills as governments prepare for an inevitable global conflict. Schools in Lithuania are implementing a tech-savvy course for children to learn how to operate drones, as the next war will not be fought with direct combat.
The defence and education ministries issued a joint statement stating that they plan to “expand civil resistance training” by teaching over 22,000 children how to fly drones. The program will be offered to children between eight and ten years old, with adjustments for grade level. Children will not only learn how to fly drones, but they will also learn how to build and manufacture simple drones and drone parts.
Adults throughout the nation will. We plan that 15,500 adults and 7,000 children will acquire drone control skills by 2028. In September we will open drone control centres in Jonava, Tauragė and Kėdainiai, and we will open six more drone training centres in other regions of Lithuania by 2028 and will also be expected to learn this new crucial survival skill,” Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė proclaimed.
The government plans to spend €3.3 million on the initial education program, which will include training equipment, control and video transmission systems, and a mobile app.
Ukraine is also teaching children UAV technology in the classroom and has implemented drone flying competitions and obstacle courses into the regular curriculum.
Russian children are learning the same technology. In fact, Russian defense companies are headhunting teenagers who exhibit advanced video game skills that could be translated into drone operation. Berloga, a video game launched in 2022, requires the player to defend themselves against swarms of bees using drones. Hundreds of thousands of Russian children play this game, and many earn extra credit on exams for successfully advancing in the game. The top players are recruited into advanced competitions where headhunters lurk to find the next generation of UAV operators. “We were forbidden to say that it was needed for the war, and we invented civilian applications. It’s a children’s program … A project must always have a dual purpose, especially when you’re a school student. It’s an unwritten rule I’ve observed at every competition,” one anonymous source told the Guardian.
European nations are preparing the youth for war. Those in power are well aware that this war is escalating to the point that it will last long enough for primary school-aged children to become future soldiers.
