By Janis Laizans

TAURAGE, Lithuania (Reuters) - On the border with Russia, Lithuania's Defence Ministry has launched the first of what will be nine schools around the country teaching children as young as 10 and adults how to fly, assemble, and programme drones.

"It's all about building military defensive capabilities, which Lithuania is taking very seriously, living in the neighbourhood with Russia and Belarus", said Deputy Defence Minister Tomas Godliauskas.

Children and others will be taught to operate First Person View (FPV), quadcopter and single-wing drones, said teacher Mindaugas Tamosaitis.

At the school in Taurage, 20 km from Russia's Kaliningrad enclave, children practised virtual flights on computers. A boy at the training range was practising flying a mini drone up and down, supervised by the teachers and sometimes crashing it on the floor.

The kids are enthusiastic, said their teacher.

NATO member Lithuania asked the alliance to strengthen its air defence after two Russian drones crashed there after crossing from Belarus this summer.

NATO last Friday announced plans to beef up the defence of Europe's eastern flank, two days after Poland shot down drones that had violated its airspace, in the first known action of its kind by a member of the Western alliance during Russia's war in Ukraine.

(Writing by Andrius Sytas; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)