Challenges to national defence in contemporary geopolitical situation

Remote warfare is a phenomenon that has been significantly manifested over the course of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. In this new type of modern warfare, military remote systems, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), are becoming increasingly relevant. One of the key prerequisites for the flawless use of remote systems is trust in them. Despite the rapid development of such systems, there is still a lack of empirical research examining operators' trust in these systems, resulting in limited evidence on this phenomenon. This article presents the key findings of the study aiming at identifying the main factors that shape soldiers’ trust in UAV systems in the Lithuanian Armed Forces (LAF).