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We invite U.S. defence contractors to invest in Lithuania, says L. Kasčiūnas

Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence

2024-05-02

As Minister of National Defence Laurynas Kasčiūnas proceeds with the agenda of his official visit to the United States, he had a meeting with Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante.

Laurynas Kasčiūnas thanked for the U.S contribution to Lithuania's security calling the United States force presence in the country a critical component of deterrence. Also, the vision of the Lithuanian national division development, investment in the Lithuanian Armed Forces capabilities were presented and the necessity to further strengthen the Lithuanian-U.S. cooperation in defence industry was pointed out at the meeting.

"We appreciate the U.S. assistance in developing Lithuania's military capabilities. Modernization of the Lithuanian Armed Forces is our priority financed with the impressive 30 percent of defence spending. 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," said Minister of National Defence Laurynas Kasčiūnas at the meeting and highlighted the importance of looking into the opportunity for defence cooperation between the countries, especially in attracting defence investment to Lithuania.

According to Minister, introduction of a Law on Defence and Security Industry, which will be processed by the Seimas shortly, would not open broader cooperation opportunities for defence companies but also facilitate investment of the large arms and ammunition manufacturers in Lithuania.

"The Government of Lithuania has just signed a Letter of Intent with Germany's defence industry giant Rheinmetall which going to build an ammunition factory in Lithuania. We can see immense potential in Lithuania-U.S. cooperation in defence industry, therefore we look forward to a signal for the business that Lithuania is a reliable partner," stated Laurynas Kasčiūnas at the meeting.

Minister's agenda in the United States also includes visits to UAV manufacturer AEVEX Aerospace, defence production giant Lockheed Martin which sells equipment to Lithuania for over USD 1 billion (HIMARS air defence systems, Black Hawk helicopters, Javelin antitank systems, etc.). L. Kasčiūnas is also planned to meet with top executives of Northrop Grumman, largest manufacturer of medium caliber live and dummy ammunition and defence systems in the world.