• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

We will see the Netherlands' Patriot air defence systems in Lithuania again, says L. Kasčiūnas after meeting the Dutch counterpart

Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence

2024-09-16
International cooperation

Minister of National Defence Laurynas Kasčiūnas discussed strengthening air defence, assistance to Ukraine and other topics with the new Minister of Defence of the Netherlands Ruben Brekelmans on an official visit in Vilnius. The second bilateral visit of the new Minister abroad comes after his trip to Ukraine in July.

"We are grateful to the Netherlands for deploying the Patriot Integrated Air and Missile Defence System in Šiauliai Airbase this summer. I have been convinced by this meeting that the Netherlands have a serious approach to collective defence commitments and protection of the NATO airspace, particularly in the eastern flank," said Minister of National Defence Laurynas Kasčiūnas.

L. Kasčiūnas asserted that the exercise the Patriot air defence system was deployed to this summer was successful and beneficial to both sides and the Netherlands decided to continue the training in Lithuania in the future.

Lithuania hosted Exercise Baltic Connection'24 in July, for which the Netherlands deployed the Patriot Integrated Air and Missile Defence System at the Lithuanian Air Force Base in Šiauliai. Deployment of the Patriot air defence system was the first step towards implementing the Rotational NATO Air Defence Model agreed to at the NATO Summit in Vilnius last year.

NATO Heads of State agreed on the Rotational NATO Air Defence Model at the NATO Summit in Vilnius aiming to strengthen the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence and enable a smooth transition to air defence tasks. The Model will be operational alongside the NATO Air Policing Mission and provide defined principles to Allies for rotational deployments and integration of ground-based, missile defence systems and additional aircraft, starting with the eastern flank of NATO. It will enable building readiness for air defence tasks, improve level of readiness of the air capabilities and overall interoperability.

"Deployment of the systems is a vital step closer towards the Rotational NATO Air Defence Model which contributes to enhancement of deterrence across the eastern flank," said L. Kasčiūnas.

The State Defence Council approved acquisition of the German-made Leopard 2 tanks for the division formed in the Lithuanian Armed Forces this January. Lithuania has passed as decision to procure the German platform just like the Netherlands.

"We are prepared to cooperate on tank acquisition and operator training. This effort will doubtlessly improve the cooperation between our land forces," said L. Kasčiūnas.

Ministers also discussed support to Ukraine. "I welcome the Dutch decision to authorize Ukraine to use their weaponry, including F-16s, without any target range restrictions," said L. Kasčiūnas. In its turn, Lithuania renders continuous assistance to Ukraine which amounts to over EUR 679 million in military aid and over a billion euros generally in long-term assistance since the start of the war.

Appointed to the office this July, Minister of Defence of the Netherlands R. Brekelmans met with the Dutch troops in Rukla deployed with the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group in Rukla during his first visit to Lithuania. It has been under command of Lt Col Sebastiaan Schillemans of the Netherlands Armed Forces since August 7. It is the first time Germany has handed over the top command of the multinational unit to the Dutch.