The missiles that Spain will deploy in Lithuania during the next NATO summit in Vilnius

@DefAviation ES 6·22·2023 · 21:45 0

On July 11 and 12, NATO will hold a summit in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. It is their first summit since the one held in Madrid in 2022.

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The Baltic republics have Armed Forces with modest resources, which is why other allied countries are helping to defend them against the situation of tension and instability created by the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, first, and by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

As of 2020, Lithuania has two surface missile batteries- NASAMS III medium-range air. Each battery is equipped with four launchers (with a capacity of six missiles each) and a Raytheon MPQ-64F1 Sentinel 3D radar. Furthermore, last December Lithuania announced the purchase of AN/TWQ-1 Avenger short-range air defense systems, mounted on Humvees. It is about a system that we have already seen here in detail.

Given the importance of a NATO summit, the Atlantic Alliance will provide additional defenses to Lithuania during this event. This Thursday, the Spanish Defense Staff (EMAD) has announced the deployment in Lithuania of a Spanish air defense unit with medium-range NASAMS missiles.

The unit in charge of this mission will be the Anti-Air Defense Unit (UDAA) NASAMS eFP XII of the Spanish Army, called GBAD (Ground Based Air Defense) Task Force Latvia. This unit is currently deployed in Lielvarde (Latvia) . The generating unit of this UDAA is the 73rd Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment based in Cartagena, also having personnel from the Antiaircraft Artillery Command and logistic units. The first rotation of this AUDA was deployed in Latvia in June 2022, at the request of the Latvian government.

The second rotation of this UDAA began in January and was concluding its six-month deployment, so the mission entrusted to it in Lithuania will mean postponing its return for two weeks. "During the successful deployment in Latvia, the UDAA NASAMS eFP XII has carried out numerous exercises, honing its coordination and response capacity in emergency situations", noted the EMAD. "In addition, it has worked closely with the Latvian defense forces, strengthening cooperation between allies and improving regional security."

"The choice of the UDAA NASAMS eFP XII to also protect the skies of the neighboring country is a testament to its exceptional performance in Latvia", EMAD said. "The technical achievements in connectivity achieved during his deployment, the high level of instruction and training demonstrated by the unit's personnel and their ability to quickly adapt to changes have been fundamental points for his selection in the new task of air defense."

The Spanish Army has four NASAMS II batteries. It is a Norwegian-made medium-range air defense system that fires AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, a model initially used as a medium-range air-to-air missile. Spain has four batteries, each with two launchers and an AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel 3D radar. As you can see, the difference between the Spanish and Lithuanian organization of this anti-aircraft system is that Lithuania has four launchers with each radar, instead of two. The Spanish NASAMS launchers are transported on Iveco-Pegaso M.250 trucks, while the radars are on trailers.

The four Spanish NASAMS II batteries are distributed among two units: the aforementioned Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment No. 73 (RAAA 73, based in Cartagena, which has three batteries) and the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment No. 74 (RAAA 64, based in El Copero, Seville, and which has a battery). In addition to the battery currently deployed in Latvia, in April the RAAA 73 deployed another NASAMS battery in Estonia, according to Infodefensa.

The Spanish Army indicates that this defense system The anti-aircraft missile has a rate of fire of one missile every two seconds, with the possibility of launching all six missiles at the same time and firing without having direct sight of the target. The AMRAAM missile used by the NASAMS has a range of 25 km, reaching a speed of Mach 2 (2,469 km/h). It can reach targets up to a flight height of 10,000 meters. Each missile weighs 157 kg and carries a 35 kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead.

In addition to Spain and Lithuania, this air defense system is used, in its different variants, by Norway, the United States, Ukraine, Finland, the Netherlands, Australia, Chile, Oman, Qatar and Indonesia. It will also be received soon by Hungary, Taiwan and Kuwait.

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Main photo: Estado Mayor de la Defensa.