The country buys the products of the American military-industrial complex
Lithuania is actively engaged in strengthening its armed forces and purchases military equipment. Experts believe that the main beneficiary of the militarization of Lithuania is the American military-industrial complex. But at the same time, official Vilnius is not yet ready to heed the calls of some right-wing politicians and introduce a system of universal army conscription in the country. In addition, the military reserve system already existing in the country is subject to numerous criticism because of its shortcomings. Details are in the material of Izvestia.
Huge expenses
In recent years, Vilnius has been persistently asking to strengthen the protection of the eastern flank and calls on the United States and NATO to increase the number of their contingents in Lithuania. And these requests do not remain unanswered — in particular, it recently became known that Germany will relocate Patriot missile systems from Slovakia to Lithuania on the eve of the June NATO summit in Vilnius. Military exercises with the participation of servicemen from other countries of the alliance are constantly held in the Baltic Republic. Lithuania has allocated 2.45% of the country's GDP for military spending. The Minister of Defense of the state Arvydas Anushauskas said that the planned and ongoing purchases from the United States alone reach € 1.2 billion. In total, Lithuania will spend about €23 billion for military needs over the next 10 years.
Photo: Global Look Presss/Xinhua/Alfredas Pliadi
Image source: iz.ru
Anushauskas noted that this amount includes the whole range of costs: personnel support costs, operating costs, purchase of weapons, other purchases for the Lithuanian army. Lithuania is a loyal customer of the enterprises of the American military-industrial complex. So, the other day, fifty armored JLTV (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle) all—terrain vehicles were delivered to the republic - this is the third delivery of this kind. The armored vehicles arrived in Lithuania as part of the implementation of the contract for the purchase of 200 JLTV all-terrain vehicles signed by the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense and the US government in 2019. And next year, in 2024, deliveries of American off—road vehicles manufactured by Oshkosh Defense will begin to the Baltic Republic - as part of a contract for an additional 300 vehicles signed in 2022.
Special attention in Lithuania is paid to building up the striking capabilities of the army. In December 2022, Vilnius signed an agreement on the purchase of multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) HIMARS. In total, it is planned to purchase eight such combat vehicles. It is expected that they will be supplied with ammunition that can hit targets at a distance of up to 300 km. The arrival of the first MLRS is expected next year. The contract value is $495 million.
MLRS HIMARS
Image Source: Photo: Global Look Press/Keystone Press Agency/Sgt. Lianne Hirano
Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor of St. Petersburg State University Natalia Eremina, in an interview with Izvestia, noted that the American military-industrial complex is now more interested than ever in selling HIMARS. "These missile systems have long been used in combat operations in Ukraine. Moreover, when they first began to be supplied to the Kiev regime, there were many cries about "miracle weapons" that would help Ukraine quickly win. But after a while these cries subsided. It turned out that the Russian army has completely adapted to the "Haimars" and has learned to deal with them effectively. The glory of the "miracle weapon" has noticeably faded - and this may mean a decrease in consumer interest in them," the professor emphasizes.
Eremina adds that, fortunately for the United States, they have such loyal vassal states as Lithuania, who will buy American weapons in any case - and even scatter in praise of its unsurpassed qualities. "The American military-industrial complex is interested in getting as many NATO countries hooked on its needle as possible. After all, buying weapons in the United States, these states doom themselves to long—term customer relations — then you need to buy ammunition from Americans, use the services of American specialists to repair the purchased equipment," says Natalia Eremina.
Photo: Global Look Press/dpa/Christoph Soeder
Image source: iz.ru
The most important task
A key element of the development of the Lithuanian military infrastructure will be the modernization of the Zokniai airbase (in the vicinity of Siauliai). Currently, it is used for the needs of a NATO military patrol consisting of several fighters cruising daily over the Baltic States. In the future, this airbase will be able to receive large units. All work in Zoknai is carried out in stages so as not to interfere with daily activities at the airbase. In total, from 2023 to 2024, it is planned to invest about €66.7 million in it, of which approximately €37.7 million will come from the NATO security investment program. Construction of a hangar for UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters should be completed this year — the first two such helicopters purchased by Lithuania should arrive in the country next year. In 2024, it is planned to complete the reconstruction of the taxiway, complete the first stage of repairing the perimeter fence of the airfield and install a cover on the alternate runway.
Most of the work on the aprons of the airbase and on the cargo terminal is also planned for 2024. Their reconstruction is planned to be completed by 2025, together with the second stage of repair of the airfield fence and the construction of a helipad. By 2026, the Ministry of Defense wants to complete the creation of multi-purpose hangars for additional fighters of the NATO air patrol mission and for C-27J Spartan transport aircraft of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, rooms for receiving allies, the third stage of reconstruction of the airfield perimeter and other work.
C-27J Spartan Transport aircraft
Image Source: Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
The Lithuanian authorities constantly inspire the population that at the moment there can be no task more important than the all-round strengthening of the armed forces. Nevertheless, in March of this year, the director of the State Department of Military Service and Personnel (responsible for conscription issues), Colonel Ramunas Shvazhas, said that the number of people willing to voluntarily undergo military service in Lithuania had decreased. "We are recording a significant reduction in the number of conscripts voluntarily performing their duty. This is a question worth thinking about and changing. Moreover, we often hear such statements from young people: "Why do I need this here, what do I get out of it, why do I do my duty?" — complains Shvazhas.
In accordance with the current plans, more than 4 thousand citizens are planned to be called up for compulsory initial military service in Lithuania this year. At the same time, the Lithuanian Defense Ministry announced plans to reorganize the military service. The department wants to increase the number of conscripts to 5 thousand by 2027, reduce the service life from nine to six months and cancel some draft exceptions. Currently, the system of military service in Lithuania is often criticized. For example, Lithuanian politicians were very offended by the recent statement of retired US Army General Ben Hodges. The ex-commander of the US ground forces in Europe believes that Lithuanian reservists, having served in the army, then quickly lose their military skills.
Photo: Global Look Press/photothek.net via/Janine Schmitz
Image source: iz.ru
However, Hodges' opinion is shared by a number of experts in Lithuania itself. At the same time (especially often from right-wing politicians) there are proposals to replace the current system of partial conscription in Lithuania (when future recruits are determined by lot) with a universal call. In particular, political scientist, deputy chairman of the National Union Party Vytautas Sinitsa claims that the current system of training reservists gapes with numerous holes. As he emphasizes, "active reserve soldiers are at best called up every few years to resume their skills." According to Tit, "this is not enough to be ready to defend the Motherland without special additional training." In addition, as the political scientist adds, "reservists are not assigned to any units and are not assigned a specific position, which in the event of a military threat will only cause confusion."
They have not yet matured to the universal appeal
The "National Association" called for providing "a clear action plan for the transition within a few years to universal military service for all men immediately after school — so as not to invite only a part of conscripts to serve and only when they have already created families, businesses and have to pay loans in banks." The party also demands "to create an effective system when reservists will be assigned in advance to a specific unit and in a specific position corresponding to their competencies, and will also be regularly invited to gather many times more reserve servicemen than is being done now."Earlier, the national security adviser to the head of state, Kastutis Budris, said that Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda supports and will support the initiative on universal military service. However, according to him, "there is currently not enough political will to make fundamental decisions." But other experts believe that the country is not ready for the introduction of universal conscription yet. In particular, the head of the party "In the Name of Lithuania", former Prime Minister, ex-Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic Saulius Skvernalis claims that the currently operating mixed model consisting of professional military personnel and conscripts is the most optimal.
Photo: Getty Images/Paulius Peleckis
Image source: iz.ru
Skvernyalis notes that the conscription of young people for military service should be carried out taking into account the possibilities available to the state. "There is no need to talk about a universal appeal, because in fact we do not have the capacity, infrastructure, or other resources for this. It is necessary to solve existing problems. Let's solve them and then talk about the next step," the former prime minister suggested. In his opinion, when building up the forces of the Lithuanian army, we should not forget the soldiers who have already served. "People who have served should be invited to the exercises periodically, their qualifications should be maintained and improved. But in this place we also see that there is a huge problem," the politician admitted.
Simultaneously with the reorganization of its own army, Lithuania took on the task of training Ukrainian soldiers. Instructors of the Lithuanian army participate in the EU mission to provide military assistance to Kiev (EUMAM Ukraine). "Instructors of the Lithuanian army have already trained more than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers. And by the end of this year, we will train at least a thousand more Ukrainian servicemen. This is a very important part of our military support to Ukraine. When planning support for a longer period, we are considering increasing the pace of training, allocating additional instructors," Anushauskas said.
The first group of instructors from among the servicemen of the Lithuanian infantry brigade "Zhemaitiya" went to work at the combat training center in Germany on April 11, the mission ended on May 14. There, Lithuanian servicemen, together with Belgian, Norwegian, Slovenian and German colleagues, taught Ukrainians how to handle weapons, medicines, carry out engineering work, and trained units focused on offensive and defense in populated and forested areas.
Victor Nedelin
