Lithuania wants 54 new tanks in tweak to land forces layout

WARSAW, Poland — Lithuania’s chief of defense, Lt. Gen. Valdemaras Rupšys, has announced the country’s military aims to acquire up to 54 tanks to strengthen the combat capacities of the Lithuanian land forces.

“We are proposing to transform one mechanized infantry battalion into a tank battalion,” Rupšys said, as quoted by local broadcaster TV3.

The defense chief said that relevant recommendations had been submitted to the Lithuanian government as part of the nation’s efforts to create a division-sized unit within its armed forces. The unit will operate infantry fighting vehicles and tanks, among others.

The latest declaration comes as numerous Eastern European allies are pursuing tank acquisitions in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In April 2022, Poland signed a deal worth about $4.75 billion to purchase 250 M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 tanks from the United States. In January 2023, the country’s Ministry of National Defence inked a second contract, valued at some $1.4 billion, to purchase 116 second-hand M1A1 Abrams from the U.S. In addition to the Abrams, last year, Warsaw ordered some 1,000 K2 Black Panther tanks, of which 180 units will be manufactured by Hyundai Rotem in South Korea, and a further 820 tanks in the K2PL variant are to be jointly made by the two countries’ defense sectors.

In Romania, the Ministry of National Defence aims to buy a battalion’s worth of Abrams from the U.S. Bucharest could acquire as many as 54 units to replace some of its Army’s outdated Soviet-times tanks.

Meanwhile, the Czech Republic is advancing plans to purchase new Leopard 2A7+ tanks from Germany. Last May, Czech Defence Minister Jana Černochová suggested the nation could buy up to 50 tracked vehicles for its land forces.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——立陶宛国防部长瓦尔德马拉斯·鲁普西斯中将宣布，该国军方计划采购多达 54 辆坦克，以加强立陶宛陆军的作战能力。

据当地电视台 TV3 报道，鲁普西斯表示：“我们计划将一个机械化步兵营改组为坦克营。”

国防部长表示，作为立陶宛在武装部队内部组建师级规模部队计划的一部分，相关建议已提交给立陶宛政府。该部队将装备步兵战车和坦克等武器装备。

在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰之后，许多东欧盟友都在寻求采购坦克，而这份最新声明正是在此背景下发布的。

2022年4月，波兰签署了一项价值约47.5亿美元的协议，从美国购买250辆M1A2艾布拉姆斯SEPv3主战坦克。2023年1月，波兰国防部签署了第二份合同，价值约14亿美元，从美国购买116辆二手M1A1艾布拉姆斯主战坦克。除艾布拉姆斯主战坦克外，去年华沙还订购了约1000辆K2黑豹主战坦克，其中180辆将由韩国现代Rotem公司生产，另外820辆K2PL型坦克将由两国国防部门联合生产。

罗马尼亚国防部计划从美国购买一个营的艾布拉姆斯坦克。布加勒斯特可能会获得多达 54 辆，以替换其军队中一些过时的苏联时代坦克。

与此同时，捷克共和国正在推进从德国购买新型豹2A7+坦克的计划。去年5月，捷克国防部长雅娜·切尔诺霍娃曾表示，捷克陆军可能采购多达50辆履带式车辆。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。