Lithuania plans to recover a combat tank capability to fill a gap that the war waged by Russia in Ukraine makes appear as crucial. This is the announcement made by General Valdemaras Rupšys, the Head of Lithuanian Defense: “We propose to transform a battalion of mechanized infantry into a battalion of tanks”. This new unit would be part of a division that Lithuania intends to set up by 2030.
“As a country of three million people, we really need to have a unit at least as big as a division. […] NATO and American leaders have already promised to give us the capabilities that we do not yet have”, General Rupšys said last January. Hence, the Lithuanian army plans to procure a total of 54 combat tanks of a so-far unspecified type, which would be implemented with Boxer infantry fighting vehicles, 89 of which have already been delivered to it. And there is talk for Vilnius to acquire 120 more.
A variant of the M1A2 Abrams could be considered at the top of the future competitors’ list, in spite of the current ‘’Leopard 2 frenzy’’, but why not Rheinmetall’s KF51 Panther or Hanwha’s K2 Black Panther that wil be produced in Poland? Let us mention that Romania recently announced its intention to also acquire 54 M1A2 Abrams to equip a battalion.
In the meantime, Lithuania can count on the Leopard 2A6 tanks deployed by Germany as part of NATO’s enhanced forward presence in the Baltic countries.