Both Latvia’s Minister of Defense Artis Pabriks and Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins suggest gradually increasing the country’s defense budget to 2.5% of GDP. During the annual foreign affairs debates in the Saeima, Pabriks said that in addition to relying on Article 5 of NATO Treaty, Latvia should follow Finland’s example, develop its armed forces and…
It will take at least two years and EUR 16 million to fix the security gaps along the Narva River, the Police and Boarder Guard Board (PPA) has said. Part of the Estonian-Russian border runs along the Narva River and there is a lack of surveillance equipment and border guards cannot react quickly enough to…
With increased threats to state security, it will be necessary to allocate an additional EUR 350 million towards defense, said Latvian Minister of Artis Pabriks. According to him, the Ministry of Defense has compiled of list of need it would like satisfied and plans the ministry would like to see executed more quickly. The minister…
Lithuania will hand over 24 thermal sights to Ukraine’s special forces, the country’s Defense Ministry reports. “Under the plan, these will be mobile thermovisual surveillance devices,” the ministry said, adding that the devices were valued at over 340,000 euros. The ministry also confirmed that Lithuania would soon start handing over weapons to Ukraine, but refrained…
Estonia is purchasing over 500 Israel-made Spike SR anti-tank missiles, the Center for Defense Investment (RKK) says. The first consignment will arrive later this year, and will include ancillary equipment such as training missiles. The launchers are reportedly already in the country. The main Spike SR operators will be the volunteer Defense League (Kaitseliit), whose…
Spike missiles, fire-and-forget guided missile systems mounted on Vilkas Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs), have been tested for the first time by the Lithuanian military. The Israel-made system was tried out on January 14-18 during a combat shooting drills of the Grand Duke Algirdas Mechanized Infantry Battalion. Spike missiles have been installed on Lithuania’s newly acquired…
The Lithuanian State Defense Council decided on January 10 that the country should buy multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) earlier than planned. The announcement comes amid tensions in the region over Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine’s borders. “It was agreed to push forward the plans to procure MLRS together with the neighbouring Baltic countries,” Darius…