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Vice Minister of National Defence underscores the necessity of air and missile defence for the Baltic states in Paris

Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence

2023-06-22
International cooperation

June 19 through 21, Vice Minister of National Defence Greta Monika Tučkutė attended the European Air Defense Conference in Paris organized under the auspices of President of France Emanuel Macron. Vice Minister underscored in her address the importance of air and missile defence in the defence of the Baltic states.

"NATO unity and solidarity are key for a steadfast collective defence of our region," said Vice Minister while noting the necessity to implement the NATO rotational air defence model to ensure a smooth transition from air policing to air defence in the event of a crisis. While in Paris, vice Minister had a meeting with Xavier Chatel, Strategic Affairs Advisor to President Macron, on Ukraine's NATO membership perspectives, challenges to strategic security in Europe and collective defence ahead of the NATO Summit in Vilnius. Priorities and options for cooperation with defence industry were also among the topics touched upon.

Vice Minister's agenda also covered participation in Salon du Bourget 2023 held in Paris this week. The largest defence industry exhibition in the world is dedicated to air defence and aviation. Vice Minister's delegation and herself had a round of meetings with other countries' defence representatives. The meeting with Emmanuel Chiva, Chief Executive of the French Defense Procurement Agency (French: Direction générale de L'armement, DGA) of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, addressed the bilateral cooperation in innovation promotion, as well as bilateral acquisition projects (CAESAR, 155 mm ammunition, etc.). DGA Chief Executive also briefed on the recently established Defense Innovation Agency (DIA) at the meeting.

Meetings with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army Patrick Mason and Assistant Secretary of the Army Doug Bush focussed on major U.S.-enabled procurement projects (HIMARS, Black Hawk, JLTV, Switchblades, etc.) and especially, the maximum acceleration of delivery of the equipment; also, increasing the assistance to Ukraine and a speedy transfer of the needed equipment and weapons.

The meetings held with top executives of the European and U.S. defence industry companies, Thales, Nexter, Kongsberg, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, addressed implementation of the weaponry procurement projects Lithuania prioritized and inclusion of Lithuanian defence industry companies into supply chains, thus strengthening the cooperation and supply to the Lithuanian Armed Forces.