The powerful armored and artillery force that Lithuania is building up in front of Russia

The large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022 has triggered a rearmament process in several NATO countries.

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This rearmament is particularly important in the allied countries bordering Russia, especially Poland, which is making the largest arms purchase process in its recent history, but also in Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Lithuania's delicate strategic position

The small Baltic republics are said to be the NATO countries most vulnerable to a Russian attack, and have also been subject to threats from the Kremlin, which have been answered by a recent fortification of the borders of several of these countries with Russia. A particularly particular case is that of Lithuania, the largest and most populous of the three Baltic republics, with an area of ​​65,301 square kilometres and 2.87 million inhabitants, a population slightly larger than that of the Spanish region of Galicia.

Lithuania’s strategic position is particularly delicate. The country is bordered to the north by Latvia, to the west by the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, and to the west by Belarus, which is ruled by a dictator – Aleksandr Lukashenko – who is, in fact, a puppet of the Kremlin. Lithuania’s southern border is the so-called Suwałki corridor, which links the country to Poland, a country with which the Lithuanians have important historical ties (both are, in fact, traditionally Catholic countries). This corridor would be one of the main Russian targets in the event of an attack, in order to isolate the Baltic republics from the rest of the NATO countries.

The composition of the Lithuanian Armed Forces

Until now, Lithuania has had the best-equipped army of the three Baltic republics. By 2023, its defence spending will exceed the 2.5% of GDP barrier. According to The Military Balance 2024 by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Lithuanian Armed Forces have 25,300 men and women on active duty, of whom 16,100 are in the army. In addition, Lithuania has 7,100 reservists, exclusively in its ground forces. The Lithuanian Army has two large brigades: a mechanized brigade (the Iron Wolf) and a motorized infantry brigade (the Žemaitija), as well as a reserve brigade, a light infantry brigade called Aukštaitija.

The current armored force of the Lithuanian Army

The bulk of its armored force, which is not inconsiderable considering the size of the country, is made up of M-113 armored vehicles in different variants: 214 M-113A1 personnel carriers, 22 M-577 command vehicles, 32 M-113 mortar carriers (with 120 mm Tampella mortars) and 4 M-113 recovery vehicles. Most of these M-113s were purchased from Germany between 2000 and 2006, and 78 of them were delivered to Ukraine as military aid against the Russian invasion.

In addition to the M-113, the Lithuanian Army has 89 Rheinmetall Boxer wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, designated Vilkas in Lithuania. They were delivered between 2019 and 2023 and come in various configurations: there are anti-tank versions with Spike LR missiles, others with turrets equipped with 30 mm Mk44 Bushmaster II cannons, some with M-2 Browning machine guns, and also units with 7.62 mm FN MAG machine guns.

Other vehicles and artillery systems

In terms of armoured vehicles, a notable element of the Lithuanian Army are the 500 Oskosh JLTV MRAP vehicles, the deliveries of which were recently completed. In addition, the Lithuanian Army possesses almost 200 Humvees in different versions. The mobility of the Lithuanian land force is completed by more than a thousand Mercedes-Benz G-Class off-road vehicles and more than 100 Land Rover Defenders, as well as various types of trucks, among which almost 600 Mercedes-Benz Unimogs, 250 Mercedes-Benz NGs and 225 DAF F218s.

The artillery chapter was perhaps one of the weakest in the Lithuanian Army until recently: the towed artillery consists of 18 M-101 howitzers, a World War II model purchased two decades ago from Denmark. Between 2015 and 2020, Lithuania purchased 21 PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers (above these lines), which today form the backbone of its artillery.

Lithuania's new purchases: Leopard 2A8, CV90, CAESAR and HIMARS

Although Lithuania had a strong force for its size, its army has some limitations, such as a lack of main battle tanks and tracked infantry fighting vehicles. These limitations are going to be compensated by the latest acquisitions made by this country. The most notable is the purchase of 44 Leopard 2A8 tanks, the most modern version of this German-made model. With them, Lithuania will be the first Baltic republic to have main battle tanks.

On the other hand, Lithuania has started the process of acquiring CV90 infantry fighting vehicles, an excellent tracked armoured vehicle manufactured in Sweden. The information published so far estimates that Lithuania could buy about 100 vehicles of this type, equipping two battalions. It would be an excellent complement to the Leopard 2A8.

In terms of artillery, Lithuania has purchased 18 Caesar NG Mk2 155mm artillery systems, a very good wheeled vehicle with 6x6 drive. In addition, Lithuania expects a total of 6 M-142 HIMARS multiple rocket launchers (above these lines) this year. The ammunition that the Lithuanian Army has purchased for this artillery system includes long-range MGM-140 ATACMS missiles, which are proving lethal in Ukraine. With these purchases, coupled with those being made by neighbouring Poland, any attempt to assault the Suwalki corridor could end up being very costly for Russia and Belarus.

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Photos: Lietuvos Kariuomenė / KNDS / Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej / Forsvarsmakten.