The deployment of the Dutch Patriot air defense system in Lithuania

Lithuanian army in a statement referring to the deployment of a Patriot air defense system belonging to the Netherlands in this country, emphasized: This system will be deployed in Lithuania to participate in the Baltic 24 exercise.

According to the Wednesday morning report of the Delphi news website, based on the statement of the Lithuanian army, a Dutch Patriot air defense system will participate in the exercise of NATO forces known as “Baltic 24” which will take place from July 7 to 19 (17 until July 29) will be held in this country and will also be stationed in this country for the purpose of training Lithuanian military forces.

In this statement, pointing out that the deployment of this Patriot air defense system is the first step towards the implementation of NATO’s new rotary air and anti-missile defense model among the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, it has been emphasized: At last year’s meeting of NATO leaders in Vilnius, the use of this new rotating air defense and anti-missile model was approved.

This statement continues: among the programs that are included in the Baltic 24 exercise, training for redeployment and integration of capabilities, integrated control and command of the military forces of NATO members and the implementation of integrated air defense operations in the territory of this military alliance can be enumerate.

According to this statement, the air defense battalion of the Lithuanian Air Force will participate in this exercise with the medium-range air defense missile system (NASAMS). Military planes and fighters from the countries of Lithuania, Spain and Portugal, which carry out NATO’s Baltic Air Police mission, will also participate in this exercise.

The three Baltic states and Poland previously asked the European Union to establish a defense line along the 700-kilometer border with Russia and Belarus to protect the bloc from military and other threats from Moscow.

The leaders of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland, which are all member states of the European Union, wrote a letter to the President of the European Union in which the proposed plan and the cost of this line of defense are described.

This letter states: The creation of a defense infrastructure system along the EU’s external borders with Russia and Belarus will meet the EU’s urgent and dire need against hybrid and military threats. Because the external borders of the European Union must be protected and defended with military and civilian means.

The letter was written as the Russia-Ukraine war approaches its third year, adding that “the scale and costs of this joint effort require dedicated EU action to support it politically and financially.”

The line of defense also meets NATO’s military needs, and EU officials estimate its cost at around 2.5 billion euros, or ($2.7 billion).