Baltic nations brace for impact of Iran war delaying US weapons shipments

WARSAW, Poland — The United States government has flagged possible delays linked to the Iran war in deliveries of weapons and ammunition to the three Baltic States, the prime ministers of Estonia and Lithuania announced during an April 17 joint press conference.

“Yes, the U.S. has informed us of the situation, and we understand the reasoning and the circumstances. And we are in close contact with them … [for] discussions [on] how to address these supply challenges,” Estonia’s Prime Minister Kristen Michal said. “And the U.S. remains our biggest ally. The troops are here, connections are strong.”

Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė stated at the conference that, while her government does not see “a big problem so far” with regard to the planned deliveries of U.S. military gear to Lithuania, Vilnius has also been informed of changes to supply schedules.

“We understand that some of the … deadlines, they are moving,” Ruginienė said at the conference.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa commented that her Cabinet has “not been officially informed yet” by the U.S. of any changes to the delivery schedule of the contracted gear.

“But, sure, we all can read news, and we are looking very closely [at] what’s going on,” Siliņa said.

The prime ministers’ statements follow recent reports of potential delays in U.S. weapon deliveries to several European countries, including allies in the Baltic region and Scandinavia, as reported by Reuters .

On April 18, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told local broadcaster ERR his country’s main concern is related to possible delays in the procurement of ammunition for the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems , or HIMARS. In April 2025, the Estonian Defence Forces received the first six HIMARS the country ordered in 2022. Earlier this month, Tallinn placed an order for a further three systems made by Lockheed Martin, with deliveries scheduled for 2027.

“What we do know is that ammunition deliveries have been put on hold, and we will try to gather as much information as possible and see whether this affects all allies and will remain in force for all of them, or whether, for example, exceptions will be made,” Pevkur said.

“If they are delayed for a longer period, then what are the alternatives or backup options? Even in the case of HIMARS, it is theoretically possible to use ammunition from other manufacturers, but that would again require permission from Lockheed Martin and the U.S. government, so that other ammunition could also be used in it,” the minister stated.

Alongside Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have also purchased HIMARS for their respective militaries.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——爱沙尼亚和立陶宛总理在4月17日举行的联合新闻发布会上宣布，美国政府已指出，由于伊朗战争，向波罗的海三国交付武器弹药可能会出现延误。

“是的，美国已经向我们通报了情况，我们理解其中的原因和背景。我们正与他们保持密切联系……讨论如何应对这些供应挑战，”爱沙尼亚总理克里斯汀·米哈尔表示。“美国仍然是我们最大的盟友。美军驻扎在这里，联系依然牢固。”

立陶宛总理英加·鲁吉涅涅在会议上表示，虽然立陶宛政府目前认为美国向立陶宛交付军事装备“没有大问题”，但维尔纽斯方面也已被告知供应计划有所变更。

“我们了解到，有些……截止日期正在延后，”鲁吉涅涅在会议上说。

拉脱维亚总理埃维卡·西利娜表示，美国尚未正式通知她的内阁有关合同设备交付时间表的任何变更。

“当然，我们都能看新闻，而且我们正在密切关注正在发生的事情，”西利娜说。

据路透社报道，近期有消息称，美国向包括波罗的海地区和斯堪的纳维亚半岛盟友在内的几个欧洲国家交付武器可能会延迟。随后，各国总理发表了声明。

4月18日，爱沙尼亚国防部长汉诺·佩夫库尔在接受当地广播公司ERR采访时表示，该国目前最主要的担忧是M142高机动性火箭炮系统（HIMARS）弹药采购可能出现延误。爱沙尼亚国防军于2025年4月接收了该国于2022年订购的首批六套HIMARS系统。本月初，塔林方面又向洛克希德·马丁公司订购了三套HIMARS系统，预计将于2027年交付。

佩夫库尔说：“我们目前知道的是，弹药交付已经暂停，我们将尽力收集尽可能多的信息，看看这是否会影响所有盟国，是否会对所有盟国持续有效，或者是否会有例外情况。”

“如果延误时间更长，那么有哪些替代方案或备用方案？即使是HIMARS系统，理论上也可以使用其他制造商的弹药，但这同样需要洛克希德·马丁公司和美国政府的许可，以便该系统也能使用其他弹药，”部长表示。

除了爱沙尼亚，拉脱维亚和立陶宛也为各自的军队购买了HIMARS导弹防御系统。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。