📋 Tender Overview
Minister of National Defense Dovil? Šakalien? will visit the United States of America.
"The situation is tense, so now we have to work harder than ever. We will be able to effectively help Ukraine only if we invest properly in pan-European defense and develop our defense industry using the green corridor and treating it as a matter of strategic importance. If we really want to help Ukraine, we must do this homework with unprecedented speed."
"During the visit, we will pay special attention to bilateral meetings with US defense industry companies. We want modern weapons factories to be built in Lithuania. Our goal is not only to prepare for the expansion of production, but also to show other countries by our example that we are not joking when we say that we will produce a lot, quickly, and that we will consider the defense industry a real priority," the Minister of National Defense said before leaving for the United States.
D. Šakalien? will meet with representatives of the largest US defense industry companies: RTX, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, AM General and others.
Over the past two years, Lithuania has purchased approximately 2 billion euros worth of weapons and equipment from the United States, making it the largest buyer of US weapons in the Baltic States. Purchases from the United States account for almost 20 percent of our total purchases.
Lithuania buys Javelin anti-tank missile systems, JLTV armored all-terrain vehicles, Black Hawk helicopters, Himars rocket artillery systems, AMRAAM missiles for medium-range air defense systems NASAMS, Switchblade drones, etc. from the Americans.
According to D. Šakalien?, we must maintain strong transatlantic ties between the US and Europe, because we need each other. "The quality of our cooperation will largely depend on the immediate investments of European countries in defense. Lithuania assumes responsibility - we have clearly declared our commitments and are working with our regional colleagues. Meanwhile, Europe has repeatedly proven that it can cope with the biggest crises. The EU has the financial capacity, it just needs to finally mobilize. There is no need to look far for the reasons," the minister said.
During the visit, the Minister will also meet with Major General John R. Pippy, Commander of the Pennsylvania National Guard, which has supported the Lithuanian military for three decades. She will also have a bilateral meeting with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, meet with members of Congress and former US Secretary of the Army Ryan D. McCarthy in the first administration of US President D. Trump, and participate in closed discussions organized by the Atlantic Council and the Hudson Institute. Meetings with Lithuanian communities in the US are also planned.
The US consistently supports the development of our military capabilities, deploying heavy battalions in Lithuania for a permanent uninterrupted presence since 2019. Since 2022, the US battalion deployed in Lithuania has been reinforced with an artillery unit. The US military presence in Lithuania is a critically important deterrent and security guarantor in the Baltic States.
