The first ever German military force to have a permanent base abroad since World War 2 arrived in Lithuania on 8 April 2024. Twenty-one troops from 16 different military units of Germany arrived as the command spearhead of the 45th German Brigade Litauen by plane, led by Colonel André Hastenrath.
Featured photo: spearhead of the German Brigade arriving in Vilnius on 8 April 2024
(Press photo: Lithuania Ministry of Defence)
The team will set up command in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, and is expected to have 150 staff members by the end of 2024. Permanent housing for troops and equipment is under construction at the the Rūdninkai Training Area in the Šalčininkai region in Lithuania, while a smaller continent will be based in Rukla. Many of the German troops and their families will settle in housing in Vilnius and Kaunas, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence expects.
Recommended read: First Finnish NATO deployment (nordicreporter.com)
4,800 German troops
The German Brigade will reach full operational capability by the end of 2027, at which time it will have roughly 4,800 military and 200 civilian personnel living and working in Lithuania. The backbone will be formed by the 203rd Panzer Battalion from Nordrhein-Westfalen the 122nd Panzergrenadier Battalion from Bayern. Additional units will be newly-formed once on the ground in Lithuania. The permanent deployment of the German battalion is a direct reaction to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
More NATO ground presence in Lithuania
Until the German Brigade is at full strength, NATOs primer presence in Lithuania is a US army battalion, with battalions based in the United States temporarily deployed to Lithuania on a rotational basis. Moreover, cooperating NATO countries deploy troops on a rotational basis to the NATO Forward Presence Battle Group (eFP BG) in Lithuania. This group is based in Rukla and led by Germany, and includes troops from the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Croatia, Luxembourg, and is about 1,500 men and women strong.
Recommended read: Sweden joins NATO, these are the 10 immediate consequences (nordicreporter.com)
NATO’s air presence in the Baltic States
NATO keeps a rotating air defence presence from its member states Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania, normally comprising of eight fighter jets to intercept Russian or Belarusian air threats to the Baltic States. A second flight of eight NATO combat aircraft is at Ämari Air Base in Estonia, while Malbork Air Base in Poland serves as a back-up. | © 2024 Marcel Burger, nordicreporter.com