Acquisition of HIMARS artillery systems to be accelerated

“Corrections were made as regards to planning [of acquisition] of such effective systems, which have demonstrated their effectiveness. HIMARS is an artillery rocket system. Based on our old plans, acquisitions were delayed until 2028-2029. Now, together with [the other two] Baltic States, we have reached a common agreement that all of the countries will have these capabilities,” Anušauskas said at a meeting of the Lithuanian Regions Political Group in Parliament on Tuesday.

According to the minister, Lithuania would have somewhat more HIMARS units than Latvia and Estonia, with the United States expected to approve their purchase in the near future.

“The USA has already given approval to Estonians, whereas we, if I am not mistaken, should receive approval either in August or in September,” said the defence minister.

“This is not a cheap purchase, but we have spread out payments for a dozen years. They [HIMARS] will start arriving in 2025. It is not as if you can get HIMARS capabilities immediately. An exception was made to Ukraine because the USA is transferring them from its reserves,” Anušauskas said.

Furthermore, the defence minister also emphasised the need to obtain surveillance drones, expressing hope that they could be purchased from local manufacturers.

“They are somewhat cheaper but are not technologically inferior to those made by foreign manufacturers. However, perhaps as in other countries, production capacity of our military product manufacturers is not great, whether this is drone production, anti-drone guns, or, for instance, thermovisors,” noted Anušauskas.

What is more, the minister also stressed the need for Giraitės ammunition factory to set up a second production line to make more ammo, which is expended in training. He said although the amount is currently sufficient, yet the military would like to have greater reserves in case of any issues with logistics.