Part way through the visit to the United States, Minister of National Defence Laurynas Kasčiūnas had a meeting with U.S. Secretary of the Army Christine. It focused around two key themes: the importance of U.S. force presence in Lithuania and provision of top-quality Host Nation Support.
Minister expressed gratitude for the long-term commitment to the security of the Baltic states and leadership in NATO, as well as for the financial assistance rendered to Lithuania under the Baltic Security Initiative which improves deterrence in the region and accelerates development of the missing capabilities. According to Laurynas Kasčiūnas, a strong transatlantic bond is of critical importance in these times to Lithuania.
“We are grateful for the United States’ commitment to maintain military presence in the Baltic states. The Allied resolve to defend every inch of NATO territory is a very necessary signal to the Lithuanian people. On hour behalf, we will do everything possible to provide full Host Nation Support and develop proper infrastructure according to NATO standards for the deploying U.S. military personnel,” said L. Kasčiūnas at the meeting.
Minister presented national division formation and division-level capability development plans stressing the special role of the United States in the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ modernization. Lithuania is the largest U.S. weaponry buyer among the three Baltic states spending USD 1.3 billion over an average period of time, which is 20% of the planned defence acquisitions in total. Equipment servicing and maintenance over its full life cycle doubles the amount.
“In parallel to the national division development planning, we are looking to put in place the concept of total defence. Because a ready and organized society that support the armed forces and has a strong will to defend, is an incredible might. We can see an instance of such civic power in Ukraine whom we are tirelessly supporting. We sincerely welcome the approval of the new U.S. military assistance package,” said Laurynas Kasčiūnas. According to Minister, Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth passed on to Lithuania a thank you for the continuous unflagging assistance to Ukraine. “We have our sights set on 0.25 percent of GDP for assistance to Ukraine and to make it a consistent unsparing effort in support of a country defending itself for as long as it takes,” said Laurynas Kasčiūnas accepting the commendation.
The United States is Lithuania’s strategic partner and one of the key Allies for Baltic security, thus Lithuania aims to secure a permanent and uninterrupted presence of U.S. forces in the region. Minister received an assurance at the meeting that the rotational U.S. battalion deployment has no end term and force positioning across the region will not change.
Rotational U.S. battalions have been maintaining an uninterrupted presence in Lithuania since 2019. The current units serving in Pabradė are the Hounds Battalion (3rd Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment (3-67) and the Battle Kings Battalion (1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery (1-9).
When on deployments, the U.S. military in Lithuania are consistently conducting readiness exercises and building Allied military interoperability. The Lithuanian Armed Forces enjoys a particularly strong partnership with the Pennsylvania National Guard. The countries are also strengthening cooperation in the area of cyber security.
Also, the United States is one of Lithuania’s principal partners in defence acquisitions with such sales as the Javelin anti-tank missile system, Joint Light Tactical Vehicles JLTV, Black Hawk helicopters, HIMARS High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. Minister was notified during the visit that the American side was going to speed the delivery of the Javelin equipment to Lithuania.
