The Ministry of National Defence is continuously stepping up efforts to make sure that the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ infrastructure meets the developing national and Allied requirements and facilitates transition to a new quality in the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
Development of the military infrastructure is conducted according three major criteria: firstly, fulfilment of the Host National Support requirements. Secondly, the increasing manpower of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and corresponding need for better training, lodging and service conditions. Thirdly, Armed Forces upgrading with new equipment and development of proper maintenance, storage and munitions warehousing conditions.
“Bearing in mind the development and strengthening of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, as well as the needs of Allied forces deployed in Lithuania, development of military infrastructures becomes one of the top priorities for the Ministry of National Defence, also in terms of strengthening national security, deterrence policy. Approx. 10% of the defence budget is invested in Lithuanian Armed Forces infrastructure and it makes up a significantly increased amount in the past years, while the ongoing projects and emerging infrastructure reflects the growing strength of our Armed Forces in real terms,” says Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas.
Critical assignments of the current phase of military infrastructure development are to expand combat readiness and lodging infrastructure by further pursuing the projects for developing all main Lithuanian Armed Forces training areas and the new Rūdninkai Training Area and construction of three new military bases at Šiauliai, Šilalė and Vilnius district.
Host Nation Support Infrastructure development
Host Nation Support infrastructure development is aimed at providing improved conditions and thus facilitate a quicker, more efficient and more convenient deployment of Allied capabilities in Lithuania. Wellbeing of Allied troops is also a consideration, for instance, an outdoor sports area has been set up in Rukla for the needs of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group.
Camp Herkus was installed for U.S. Allies at Pabradė in 2021, its extension was completed in February earlier this year enabling hosting an additional number of U.S. troops. Another completed project provided garages and repair facilities, as well as new access roads, to Vytautas the Great Jaeger Battalion.
Warehouse constructions at Algirdas Battalion began in 2022, the first stage of the project will be finished by 2024 at the latest. Year 2022 also saw appearance of two brand new field camps in Marijampolė and Kazlų Rūda, both accommodating 800 troops each.
Investments are made consistently in the infrastructure of the Air Force Base at Šiauliai which host the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states. As result, at this point it has a brand new helicopter shelter.
Another quickly progressing project is assembly and redeployment infrastructure development of the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) at Pabradė – the contract for construction works was signed in February 2023, the work is set to begin in April and [planned to be completed by 2025.
Plans have been put in place for infrastructure to host a German Brigade in Lithuania: projects are developed at Kairiai, Pajuostis and Rūdninkai Training Areas and Pabradė, documents are arranged. New ammunition warehouses will be added.
The project of Permanent Logistics Support Area was launched in Rukla in 2022 to provide more convenience for the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group: it encompasses repair, equipment maintenance and servicing facilitates, administrative quarters, warehouses, other utility buildings. All the preparatory clearance, demolition and environment arrangement work has been completed. A complex storage infrastructure development project is underway.
Development of infrastructure for force training, lodging and service conditions improvement
Alongside the expansion of combat readiness and training infrastructure in major military training areas of Lithuania, their overall area and adjacent military training territories are expanded, new training fields that support the acquired modern equipment are installed.
At the Gaižiūnai Training Area, 2 km worth of new roads was built in 2022 and 4-5 km are planned to be added this year. 35% of all the planned training area roads at Gaižiūnai are planned to be built in 2023.
A new military training area has been added to Lithuanian Armed Forces disposal in the summer of 2022 at Rūdninkai after within a very short time completing the works which the initial deadline foresaw for 2024. Currently, land appropriation in public interest, demining, clearance and marking is underway.
The new 17 thousand ha area is planned to have lodging infrastructure, helipads, Urban Warfare training site, artillery target area, artillery fire positions, firing ranges (part of which were already certified according to NATO standards in 2022), repair facilities and garages.
Lodging and service conditions for Lithuanian military personnel was improved in 2021 by installing container infrastructure at the Air Defence Battalion territory, a weapons warehouse of the Depot Service, and refurbishing (expanding ) the mess-hall infrastructure at Birutė Uhlan Battalion. In 2022, two modular training rooms and II class warehouse were constructed at Butigeidis Dragoon Battalion and a container room camp at the Lithuanian Great Hetman Kristupas Radvila Perkūnas Signal and IS Battalion.
In 2022 the project phase was completed in the project of building the three military facilities for battalion-sized units in Šiauliai City, Rokantiškės (Vilnius district) and Pajūris Town (Šilalė district) through the public private partnership. The bases will accommodate up to 2.5 thousand civilian and military personnel. Implementation of the project is gathering more pace than hoped for: the construction s began in August–October 2022 and the infrastructure will be fully ready by the end of 2023–early 2024.
Development of infrastructure of maintenance and sheltering of newly procured equipment and arms and warehousing of munitions
As critical projects for procurement of new equipment are accelerated, so is the need for maintenance and sheltering infrastructure. In 2022, the minor Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IVF) maintenance shop was installed at Rukla and the main one will be ready in 2023. Other newly available facilities are for repairs, carwash, training simulators.
The level of appropriations for ammunitions increased over the past two years (2021 – 15%, 2022 – 17% of the overall defence spending) enabling a quicker development of ammunition warehousing infrastructure at the Lithuanian Armed Forces. New warehouses were built at Mindaugas and Birutė Battalions and more are being built for the needs of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group.
Also, aside from the warehouses intended for the German enhanced Vigilance Activity Brigade, approx. 40 new ones are planned to be built over the next several years across different territories of the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
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