Strengthened Air Defence
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AUGUST 2020. NO 8 (27). NEWS FRENCH TROOPS IN LITHUANIA MARKED BASTILLE DAY NATO'S PRESENCE THE 7TH ROTATION: HANDLING AN UNEXPECTED CRISIS Strengthened air defence ON JULY 28 PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA GITANAS NAUSĖDA WAS ACCOMPANIED BY MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENCE RAIMUNDAS KAROBLIS, CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE STAFF OF THE LITHUANIAN ARMED FORCES MAJ GEN GINTAUTAS ZENKEVIČIUS AND COMMANDER OF THE LITHUANIAN AIR FORCE COL DAINIUS GUZAS ON A VISIT TO THE LITHUANIAN AIR FORCE BASE IN ŠIAULIAI TO FAMILIARISE WITH THE AIR DEFENCE CAPABILITIES LITHUANIA HAS AND TO MEET WITH THE SPANISH, BRITISH AND GERMAN AIRMEN CONDUCTING SPECIAL THE CURRENT ROTATION OF THE NATO AIR POLICING MISSION IN THE BALTIC STATES, AS WELL AS U.S. AND LITHUANIAN SOLDIERS. NAPOLEON‘S LITHUANIAN resident was shown the RBS70, tional Exercise Tobruq Legacy 2020 in Sep- FORCES. PART II Stinger, Grom missile air defence tember this autumn. systems operated by the Air Defence NASAMS is the most widely used mid- PBattalion, Sentinel and Giraffe surveillance range air defence system in NATO member radars, and elements of the NASAMS mid- states, and even for guarding the airspace over range air defence system delivered to Lithua- the White House, Washington. Lithuania has nia in June earlier this year. acquired the most recent, third generation, "Arrival of the NASAMS reinforces air NASAMS 3, its current users are still only defence of Lithuania and NATO’s eastern the Lithuanian Armed Forces and the Armed flank, all the components of the integrated Forces of Norway, the manufacturer. defence system are linked together, and The guests also viewed fighter aircraft the deterrence becomes stronger as a result," allies protect the Baltic airspace with: F18 Minister of National Defence R. Karoblis Hornets of the Spanish Air Force, Eurofighter says. Typhoons of the British Royal Air Force and Procurement of the ground-to-air mid- the German Air Force, and Spartan transport range air defence system NASAMS is cur- aircraft and Dauphin AS365N3+ helicopters rently in progress and is expected to be com- operated by the Lithuanian Air Force. pleted in 2021. NASAMS components will MoD information undergo the first trial in Lithuania at interna- Photo credits: Alfredas Pliadis /MoD News Content NEWS STRENGTHENED AIR DEFENCE..................................................1 PRESIDENT BESTOWED THE RANK OF GENERAL ON TWO OFFICERS.................................................2 FRENCH TROOPS IN LITHUANIA MARKED BASTILLE DAY...................3 IN SHORT AUGUST 31 — FREEDOM DAY...................................4,5 THE BEST SOCIAL ACTIVITIES OF THE 7TH ROTATION.................6,7 President bestowed the rank NATO'S PRESENCE of general on two officers THE 7TH ROTATION: n July 22 President of the Republic of Lithuania promoted HANDLING AN UNEXPECTED by decree two officers of the Lithuanian Armed Forces to a CRISIS.........................................................8 senior officer rank at a ceremony at the Presidential Palace. OThe rank of general was bestowed on the Director of the Second In- vestigation Department under the Ministry of National Defence Remi- SPECIAL gijus Baltrėnas and on Commander of the Training and Doctrine Com- mand of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Mindaugas Steponavičius. Both NAPOLEON‘S LITHUANIAN of the new Generals were also presented with a sword with their names FORCES. PART II.................................16 etched in for merits in strengthening national defence of the Republic of Lithuania. The new Generals are both graduates of the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania and the U.S. Army War College. Briga- dier General R. Baltrėnas also studied at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College in the U.S., and Brigadier General M. Steponavičius graduated from the Baltic Defence College in Estonia. Minister of National Defence Raimundas Karoblis and Chief of De- Military Press Office of Lithuanian Armed Forces Totorių str. 25, LT-01121, Vilnius; fence of Lithuania Lt Gen Valdemaras Rupšys were also in attendance at Phone (370 5) 210 3897, GSM (370 6) 86 94458; fax (370 5) 273 5550; the ceremony. Email [email protected] The Decrees of the President of the Republic of Lithuania concerning Publisher — Lithuanian Armed Forces. The opinion of editorial office does not necessarily coin- promotion of two officers of the Lithuanian Armed Forces to the rank cide with the opinion of the authors. Pictures, manuscripts are not returned and reviewed. Cir- culation is 300 copies. Printed by the Cartography Center of Lithuanian Military, Muitinės str.4, of general came into force as of July 20. Candidates for promotions are Domeikava, LT-54359 Kaunas dist. Order GL-311. nominated by the Minister of National Defence. Lithuanian Armed Forced information Photo credits: Alfredas Pliadis, MoD 2 Lithuanian Military Digest News French troops in Lithuania marked Bastille Day he 14th of July ceremony is an opportunity for the French De- tachment to demonstrate that France"T is a strong and loyal NATO Ally. Here at the Rukla military barracks in Lithuania, we are joined by our comrades from others Euro- pean nations to proudly celebrate our national day by raising our three-color flag high. Start- ing from tomorrow we will soon be cooperat- ing collectively in exercises with the aim to develop and strengthen our interoperability with the eFP multinational Battle Group. Our commitment here is that France stands along- side its Allies. The eFP Battle Group’s motto, "Stronger Together" is also the spirit of our 14th of July," Chief of the French Detachment in the eFP Lieutenant Colonel (OF4) Yannick Prigent said. Hoisting the national tri-colour to the tunes of La Marseillaise — that is how the French contingent celebrated the national day of relevant knowledge to conduct the training pe- France — Bastille Day — while deployed as riod within the NATO eFP Lithuania. part of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Like all the other eFP contingents, the Battalion Battle Group in Lithuania. French soldiers brought their combat, logisti- This is the fourth contingent that France de- cal and administrative equipment. The maneu- ploys to contribute to the implementation the ver unit will be serving with Leclerc main battle NATO deterrence and defence measures in the tanks and VBCI infantry fighting vehicles. Baltic states. All soldiers currently present in Lithuania The French contingent is composed of have been tested before landing and all have nearly 300 soldiers, roughly 200 of them as a been declared negative for COVID-19. mechanized infantry company, and 100 sol- The NATO enhanced Forward Presence diers will manage logistic and administration Battalion Battle Group in Lithuania has the affairs. The French troops will serve as one Component deployed in Lithuania in early July. total strength of over 1,200 soldiers. The in- of the NATO eFP maneuver companies, in The troops and equipment are deployed from coming French troops will replace Croatian combat support units, and in the NATO eFP the 5th Dragoon Regiment located in Mailly le colleagues. Lithuania HQ. Camp and equipped with the best assets in the MoD information The first portion of the French Tactical French Army, a battalion well-adapted with the Photo credits: Lithuanian Armed Forces August 2020. No 8. 3 In short August 31 — Freedom Day LITHUANIA CELEBRATES FREEDOM DAY ON AUGUST 31, BECAUSE ON THAT DATE 27 YEARS AGO LAST DIVISIONS OF SOVIET ARMY LEFT LITHUANIA'S TERRITORY. THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE OCCUPATION ARMY fter declaring independence from the Soviet Union on March 11, 1990, Lithuania began to seek the with- Adrawal of the occupation army, which had en- tered the country back in 1940. The first with- drawal talks were held on January 31, 1992. Lithuania's first post-independence leader Vytautas Landsbergis and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed on September 8 of that year a final agreement, setting a timetable for the withdrawal of the Russian army from Lithua- nia. An agreement on the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Lithuania was reached as a result of tough negotiations. "It is an achievement, a victory for both countries that we managed (to agree) despite all that fighting, intrigues, at- tempts to force, intimidate and blackmail (by saying) that we would not sign and you would leave with nothing," Landsbergis remembers. There is no exact data of how many Soviet military personnel was stationed in Lithua- 4 Lithuanian Military Digest In short nia after the Restoration of Independence; according to data provided by the North-West Group of the Russian Federation, there were 34,6 thousand of troops by 1 January 1992. In total possible number could be around 7,3 thousand officers, 3,6 thousand praporshchiks, 22,2 thousand privates and sergeants, over 1,4 thousand cadets, about 1000 tanks, 180 air- crafts, and 1901 armoured vehicles. The last train carrying Russian military left Lithuania's territory on 31 August 1993. The train started off from Kaunas at 6.05 p.m. and following the order not to interrupt the jour- ney passed by Kena station and left Lithuania's territory at 11.45 p.m. So it was the official completion of withdraw- ing Soviet Army from Lithuania. Several small Russian divisions remained in Lithuania until they were also pulled out a few months later. Ob- jects of the last leaving division No. 377251993 of the Russian Federation deployed in Linkaičiai were taken over on 26 November 1993. "Lithuanian Military Digest" inf. Photo credits: The Lithuanian MoD photo archives. August 2020. No 8. 5 In short The best social activities of the 7th rotation PILGRIMAGE OF THE CROATIAN SOLDIERS TO THE HILL OF CROSSES June 22 Soldiers of the Croatian army and part of the eFP BG LTU made a pilgrimage to the Hill of Crosses (Kryžių kalnas), near the town of Šiauliai. They continued the tradition, started with the last con- tingent, of thanks and vows, but also of a farewell from the country in which they were accepted and received in the best possible way.