Next Defence Attaché of France Lt Col Benjamin Le Gall was accredited to Lithuania at the Ministry of National Defence Wednesday. He was wished best of luck in further strengthening the significantly intensified Lithuanian-French military cooperation.
“France is significantly contributing the security of our region with its military force, and latterly we have also begun tightening contacts in the area of defence industry and acquisitions. Our principal joint project is development of the Caesar Mark II self-propelled howitzers. We look forward to a quick and smooth integration of the new generation howitzers in our armed forces,” says Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas.
The Lithuanian-French defence cooperation has many forms and scopes, the particularly valued aspect of it is the French contributions to the NATO Air Policing efforts in the Baltic states that have been deployed eight times so far. A nice touch-up to the current appointment is that the incoming Defence Attaché had been deployed to Lithuania with one of the air policing detachments.
Lt Col B. Le Gall is a professional fighter pilot in the French Air and Space Force. He conducted the Air Policing Mission based in Šiauliai and met his future wife Asta in 2010.
Later Lt Col B. Le Gall deployed to the missions in Djibouti and Chad, served across different French Air and Space Force squadrons. His previous immediate appointment was at a NATO command as of 2020.
The outgoing French Defence Attaché Lt Col Frédéric Lemoin was farewelled at the ceremony as well. He was awarded the National Defence System-level Medal of Merit for the work done and efforts in strengthening bilateral cooperation.
