The Baltic defensive line is beginning to take shape – Estonia is testing bunkers, Latvia is putting up concrete blocks and Lithuania is acquiring mines.
Since first being announced following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Estonia has tested three different types of bunkers to see which would best withstand 155mm artillery shells.
“We are having a lot of discussions about the impact effect, durability and various other situations. This is new for us, as we have not been exposed to such tests before,” said Matti Maipuu, project engineer at the Estonian Defence Investment Centre.
Tallinn plans to establish 600 bunkers mostly north and south of Lake Peipus shared by Estonia and Russia.
Meanwhile, Latvia’s defence line is based on counter-mobility measures, including various types of concrete blocks. The country’s natural obstacles like swamps, rivers and dense forests make much of the border unsuitable for military movements even without additional installations.
Riga has also organised tests to see whether the barriers, as well as various types of trenches, can help stop a tank.
So far, they found that concrete blocks, which resembled LEGO bricks, were best suited to stopping armoured vehicles.
“It has a pretty solid base, we don’t use the famous “dragon’s teeth”, because they are more suitable for open spaces,” said Kaspars Lazdins, an engineering inspector in the Latvian army. “We call these LEGO bricks – they are very handy, because you can come up with many combinations of how to put them together.
“They are also heavy, weighing more than two tons each, so they can’t be pushed over easily,” he added.
Meanwhile, Lithuania is mostly relying on mines and decisions in Brussels.
So far, the county’s military have barricaded several bridges to Kaliningrad and set up sites that will house the various obstacles to be used in defence.
The approach to the defensive line in the Baltic States is “fragmented”, according to Raimundas Vaiksnoras, chief of the Lithuanian military.
“Nobody is digging trenches, neither in Latvia nor in Estonia, and not even in Poland,” he added. “There is an idea, there are plans – we need to prepare to fulfill them.”
Lithuania also plans to embed metal columns in key locations, which would stop vehicles from moving past them. The military is currently testing them.
“There are certain places that enemy forces have historically used most often, no matter the century,” said Vaiksnoras. “We have identified them and are planning to buy mines. Some of them have already arrived, but it will take time – this is not going to be a one-day, one-month, one-year project.”
Andrius Kubilius, due to become the EU Defence Commissioner in Brussels, said the defence line should be a European-wide project, with funding coming from the bloc. There are several projects, which could make it happen, according to Kubilius.
“These are called “Projects of Common European Interest”. Their scope is much larger than one country can undertake,” he said. “There is a common air defence system, but at the same time there is also a separate project for the so-called “East-North border protection”.”
The Lithuanian government has earmarked 600 million euros over the next decade to build fortifications, with the lion’s share of the fund to be used for acquiring mines. (LRT)