Lithuania boosts defense budget to buy HIMARS, trucks, drones

WARSAW, Poland — The Lithuanian government has decided to allocate additional funds for the country’s Defence Ministry this year, paving the way for the purchase of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, Oshkosh joint light tactical vehicles (JLTVs) and Switchblade drones from the United States.

In response to Russia’s invasion of its neighbor Ukraine, Lithuania has decided to expand its military budget by some €148 million (US$144.5 million) this year. In total, the government plans to earmark 2.52 percent of the country’s 2022 gross domestic product for defense.

“In the context of the war started by Russia, we are increasing funding for defense, consistently implementing the agreement of the parliamentary parties,” Finance Minister Gintarė Skaistė said in a press release.

The country’s Ministry of National Defence said in a statement that “Lithuanian and U.S. officials are planning to sign contracts on acquisitions that are important to Lithuania this year” including deals to buy “HIMARS missile systems, Switchblade combat drones, and JLTV armored combat support all-terrain vehicles.”

Since the war’s outbreak, Lithuania has transferred some 50 M113 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine, and the JLTV acquisition is designed to backfill this capacity.

With Ukraine using U.S.-supplied systems to combat Russia’s aggression, Lithuania is one of the region’s countries who plan to buy Lockheed Martin’s weapon to boost their rocket artillery capabilities. Last July, neighboring Latvia sent a letter of request to buy an undisclosed number of M142 HIMARS launchers, two months after Poland filed a letter of request to order about 500 such weapons.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——立陶宛政府决定今年为该国国防部追加拨款，为从美国购买高机动性火箭炮系统（HIMARS）、奥什科什联合轻型战术车辆（JLTV）和“弹簧刀”无人机铺平了道路。

为应对俄罗斯入侵邻国乌克兰，立陶宛决定今年增加约1.48亿欧元（1.445亿美元）的军费预算。该国政府计划将2022年国内生产总值的2.52%用于国防开支。

“鉴于俄罗斯发动的战争，我们正在增加国防经费，并持续落实议会各党派达成的协议，”财政部长金塔雷·斯凯斯特在一份新闻稿中表示。

该国国防部在一份声明中表示，“立陶宛和美国官员计划在今年签署对立陶宛至关重要的采购合同”，其中包括购买“HIMARS导弹系统、Switchblade战斗无人机和JLTV装甲战斗支援全地形车”的交易。

自战争爆发以来，立陶宛已向乌克兰转让了约 50 辆 M113 装甲运兵车，而 JLTV 的采购旨在填补这一缺口。

乌克兰正利用美国提供的系统对抗俄罗斯的侵略，而立陶宛是该地区计划购买洛克希德·马丁公司生产的武器以提升其火箭炮能力的国家之一。去年7月，邻国拉脱维亚发出采购意向书，希望购买数量不详的M142 HIMARS火箭炮系统。两个月前，波兰也发出意向书，计划订购约500套此类武器。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。