Because everyone understands that it is unrealistic for
Lithuania to defend itself and the billions of euros allocated for defence are
wasted. We don't have the long-range air defenses to defend against the
ballistic missiles that Iran recently treated Israel with without much of a
showing. Not having anti-ballistic missile defense is like having no tanks,
only cavalry, during Hitler's time. Therefore, from a military point of view, we
are zero. And where do the billions of euros from taxes collected for military purposes in Lithuania
go every year? Gun producers, cavalry and horses need to eat. We put
dental implants and here we go. We have the military staff members, like real ones, with colonels and
generals between them. "A military picture: ...And the beauties are far away, they gently wave their hands,
their hearts beat hotly, they will love forever..." Just like we didn't
have a real army, we still don't have one. Those who have access to our money
have no illusions either:
"Presidential
adviser Kęstutis Budrys urged on Tuesday not to have illusions about air
defense, because long-range systems are lacking all over the world and they
probably cannot be deployed in Lithuania permanently, while medium-range weapons
are currently sufficient to protect only soldiers and critical infrastructure from some small missiles.
"They have a big deficit, like for other air defense systems, and here is another reason to say
that we should not create illusions about air defense as such." That's why
so much effort is being made here, that's why there's so much talk about
it," the president's chief adviser on national security told Radio News on
Tuesday.
A few years ago, NATO
agreed on a rotational air defense model in the Baltic Sea region, which should
mean that the Western allies will send various air defense weapons to Lithuania
and other countries for rotations of various duration.
However, only the
Netherlands has done this so far, having sent Patriot long-range systems to
Lithuania for a few weeks in the summer of this year.
The Minister of
National Defense, Laurynas Kasčiūnas, said last week that more information
should be revealed in the near future regarding which countries will send the
capabilities next year.
K. Budrys did not
undertake to assess whether the allies will ever deploy long-range systems in
Lithuania permanently.
"Whether we will
ever have a continuous presence of allied systems in the entire region, I
cannot plan in such a distant perspective, because they simply do not exist,
they will be lacking." Here is elementary mathematics, and where there is
industry, physics, how much we can produce," said K. Budrys.
"If we're
talking about the Patriot, they're not the only ones, we can count them, how
many there are in the world, where they are right now, and who can rotate
here," he added.
However, according to
the presidential adviser, the benefits of short-term deployment are also
enormous, including for Lithuanian soldiers who learn to work in interaction
with such systems.
"It's not that
simple, I came here, built it and it's already working." You need to
activate the systems, you need to know how they function, communicate with each
other, what the situations can be, and each time with a new arrival, the time
during which it can already start working, it shortens. The benefit here is
unquestionable," said K. Budrys.
The new purchase -
NASRAMS systems - will only be sufficient to protect critical infrastructure
facilities
The Ministry of
National Defense announced last week that it had signed contracts for the
acquisition of air defense systems, including medium-range systems NASRAMS.
Together with the
previously acquired NASRAMS, Lithuania will have three batteries of such
systems in 2028.
When asked how many
such systems would be needed to ensure the defense of big cities and the
Suwalki corridor, K. Budrys said: "It won't be enough, that can be said
right away."
"These
medium-range air defense systems in a complex with other means are primarily
intended to protect the armed forces in Lithuania (...) and other critical
infrastructure objects, especially related to the support of the host
country from some missiles," said the presidential adviser.
According to him, in
order to ensure comprehensive air defense, Lithuania should have its own
long-range air defense systems capable of shooting down ballistic missiles.
The first NASRAMS
battery is already in Lithuania, the second one will be delivered in the first
quarter of 2026 and will finally arrive by 2027.
According to the
contract signed last week, the third battery will be shipped to Lithuania in
the second quarter of 2028.
The country also
acquired additional short-range air defense weapons last week."
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