Around 600 troops from the German Army’s 41st Mechanised Infantry Brigade and about 240 pieces of military equipment have arrived in Lithuania by land, air and sea for training, the Lithuanian Armed Forces said.
The German troops are joining the Grand Duchess Birutė Uhlan Battalion for the Griffin Lightning exercise starting on Tuesday.
“The exercise will train joint operations planning, force redeployment, joint combat tasks while on a field training and live fire exercise,” according to the Armed Forces.
The German brigade’s forward command element has been deployed to Lithuania on a standing basis since September 4, 2022.
The Germans held the first joint exercise with the Lithuanian Armed Forces in early October 2022. Exercise Fast Griffin assessed the readiness of the German and Lithuanian troops for defensive operations.
The German and Lithuanian leaders agreed last June on the assignment of a German brigade to Lithuania. At the Madrid summit later in June, NATO’s leaders confirmed plans to boost the alliance’s forces deployed to the eastern flank, including Lithuania, several years ago.
NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence Multinational Battle Group, stationed in Lithuania since 2017, is led by Germany and will continue to be reinforced through its efforts.
The alliance decided to beef up its presence in the Baltic countries after Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022.
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