Lithuania increases ground capability and spending in a high-threat environment
Lithuania is believed to have taken delivery of 500 JLTVs. (Photo: Lithuanian MND)
It has been more than two decades since Lithuania joined the EU and NATO, which followed the country’s independence from the USSR almost 15 years before that. The country is now in the shadow of the Russia-Ukraine war with air incursions from Russian ally Belarus.
Lithuania is rapidly improving the capabilities of its army through enlarged formations and a new generation of equipment backed up by deployed formations from other NATO nations and an increased budget.
In just the past month, Lithuania has signed a deal for more CAmion Equipé d’un Système d’ARtillerie (CAESAR) self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) from KMW+Nexter Defense Systems (KNDS) France and ordered anti-tank mines and missiles. The country also signed with KNDS Germany in December to build an assembly plant for the production of up to 41 Leopard 2A8+ in Kaunas, its second-largest city.
These moves to boost capability come ahead
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