Lithuania buys more weapons, beckons their makers to invest locally

WARSAW, Poland — Amid a surge in defense spending across Eastern Europe, Lithuania is advancing plans to purchase Leopard 2A8 tanks and CV90 infantry fighting vehicles while making efforts to attract investors that will develop its own defense industry.

Giedrimas Jeglinskas, the chairman of the Lithuanian parliament’s Committee on National Security and Defence, told Defense News the country’s authorities have decided to increase its level of military expenditure to between 5% and 6% of its GDP from 2026 to 2030.

This would place the nation atop of NATO in terms of spending. Similarly to the other two Baltic states, Estonia and Latvia, Lithuania has boosted its military expenditure in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Our capability target is a division that we need to arm to make it a reality, so we need to increase spending to speed up the development of divisional assets. We need tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, air defense and some other high-tech assets to ensure this division’s readiness,” Jeglinskas said.

“We need to arrive at the level which will allow us to deter potential aggression,”he added.

In December 2024, Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė inked a contract to buy 44 Leopard 2A8 tanks during an official visit to Germany. In Berlin, Šakalienė met with German officials to discuss issues related to the two nations’ defense cooperation, including the heavy maneuver brigade of 4,800 personnel that the German Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr, is to deploy to Lithuania in the summer of 2025. The move is designed to bolster NATO’s eastern flank.

Last year, the State Defence Council, Lithuania’s top defense decision-making body, authorized the country’s National Defence Ministry to also kick off the acquisition of tracked CV90s, which are made by BAE Systems Hägglunds.

In 2025, Lithuania’s defense spending is to total some €3.2 billion ($3.5 billion), or around 3.9% of the country’s GDP, according to data from the National Defence Ministry.

Alongside their work to equip the new Infantry Division with new gear, Lithuanian officials are also developing a program similar to Estonia’s initiative to lure weapon and ammunition makers to its Ämari military base.

As part of these efforts, Germany’s Rheinmetall is carrying out a project to build a new ammunition plant in Lithuania, and Vilnius hopes to attract more defense industry players.

The Lithuanian Ministry of Economy and Innovation “and the Ministry of National Defence are working tandem on the so-called Green Corridor to attract investors. Rheinmetall is one of those deals, and more producers are coming, as we’re holding talks with several manufacturers of explosives,” according to Jeglinskas, who represents the co-ruling Union of Democrats for Lithuania.

In November 2024, Rheinmetall launched the construction of a plant to make 155 mm artillery ammunition in Lithuania. Located in Baisogala, the factory is to commence operations in mid-2026. As part of the €180 million investment, around 150 jobs are to be created locally.

“A state-of-the-art production facility, including a shell manufacturing and load assembly pack, is being built in the municipality on an area of around 340 hectares,” the German company said in a statement. Once completed, the plant “will be able to produce tens of thousands of 155 mm calibre artillery shells per year.”

Jeglinskas said the Lithuanian government’s responsibility is to support potential investors with a wide range of assistance, including financial aid, to attract more defense-focused investments.

“It’s the government’s role; the government needs to put money into certain companies, and state capital is needed is push forward such investments that are of strategic importance to Lithuania and its security,” the lawmaker said.

Meanwhile, in Estonia, the country’s authorities are making efforts to settle producers of weapons, ammunition and equipment in different locations across the country. In addition to the defense industry park in Ämari, a larger defense park is to be made available for manufacturing projects by both domestic and foreign defense companies.

The national park’s location is yet to be decided. Public tenders to select investors are scheduled for 2025, representatives of the Estonian Centre for Defence Investments (ECDI), the country’s military procurement agency, told Defense News.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——在东欧各国国防开支激增的背景下，立陶宛正在推进购买豹2A8坦克和CV90步兵战车的计划，同时努力吸引投资者发展本国的国防工业。

立陶宛议会国家安全与国防委员会主席吉德里马斯·耶格林斯卡斯告诉《防务新闻》，该国当局已决定从 2026 年到 2030 年将军费开支提高到国内生产总值的 5% 到 6%。

这将使立陶宛在北约成员国中军费开支位居榜首。与另外两个波罗的海国家爱沙尼亚和拉脱维亚类似，在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰之后，立陶宛也增加了军费开支。

“我们的能力目标是组建一个师，为了实现这一目标，我们需要为其配备武器装备，因此我们需要增加开支，加快师级装备的研发。我们需要坦克、步兵战车、防空系统和其他一些高科技装备，以确保该师的战备状态，”杰格林斯卡斯说。

“我们需要达到能够阻止潜在侵略行为的水平，”他补充道。

2024年12月，立陶宛国防部长多维莱·沙卡列涅在对德国进行正式访问期间签署了一份购买44辆豹2A8坦克的合同。在柏林，沙卡列涅会见了德国官员，讨论了两国防务合作相关事宜，其中包括德国联邦国防军（Bundeswehr）计划于2025年夏季向立陶宛部署一支4800人的重型机动旅。此举旨在加强北约东翼的防御能力。

去年，立陶宛最高国防决策机构——国防委员会授权该国国防部启动采购由 BAE Systems Hägglunds 制造的履带式 CV90 装甲车。

根据立陶宛国防部的数据，到 2025 年，立陶宛的国防开支总额将达到约 32 亿欧元（35 亿美元），约占该国 GDP 的 3.9%。

在为新步兵师配备新装备的同时，立陶宛官员还在制定一项类似于爱沙尼亚的计划，以吸引武器和弹药制造商到其阿马里军事基地。

作为这些努力的一部分，德国莱茵金属公司正在立陶宛开展建设一座新的弹药厂的项目，维尔纽斯希望吸引更多国防工业企业。

立陶宛经济与创新部和国防部正在携手推进所谓的“绿色走廊”项目，以吸引投资者。莱茵金属公司就是其中一项投资，而且还有更多生产商即将入驻，因为我们正在与几家炸药制造商进行洽谈，”代表立陶宛联合执政联盟民主联盟的耶格林斯卡斯表示。

2024年11月，莱茵金属公司在立陶宛启动了一座155毫米炮弹生产厂的建设。该厂位于拜索加拉，预计将于2026年中期投产。作为一项1.8亿欧元投资计划的一部分，该项目将在当地创造约150个就业岗位。

这家德国公司在一份声明中表示：“一座最先进的生产设施正在该市建设中，占地约340公顷，其中包括炮弹制造和装药组装车间。” 工厂建成后，“每年将能够生产数万枚155毫米口径的炮弹。”

耶格林斯卡斯表示，立陶宛政府的责任是为潜在投资者提供包括财政援助在内的各种帮助，以吸引更多以国防为重点的投资。

“这是政府的职责；政府需要向某些公司投入资金，而国家资本是推动对立陶宛及其安全具有战略意义的投资所必需的，”这位议员说。

与此同时，爱沙尼亚当局正努力将武器、弹药和装备生产商分散到全国各地。除了位于阿马里的国防工业园区外，还将建立一个更大的国防园区，供国内外国防企业开展制造项目。

国家公园的选址尚未确定。爱沙尼亚国防投资中心（ECDI，该国的军事采购机构）的代表告诉《防务新闻》，计划于2025年向选定的投资者进行公开招标。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。