Lithuania will purchase tracked vehicles in the second infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) procurement phase.
According to Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas, the decision regarding the second phase was made last week.
“We are moving forward with tracked vehicles because we are forming a tank battalion,” he told journalists in the southern town of Alytus on Tuesday.
Kasčiūnas said it had already been decided that the tank battalion would be formed in phases, creating one company at a time.
He expects the first tanks to arrive in Lithuania in 2027.
“If the conditions and the price are right for us, we will go to the State Defence Council in the autumn and get the approvals, and that phasing remains as our strategy for the acquisition of the tank battalion,” the minister said.
“It is very important to have tracked IFVs. Depending on the budget possibilities, either one battalion or two battalions,” he said.
The Defence Ministry is currently in the analysis and negotiation phase regarding the acquisition of IFVs, according to Kasčiūnas.
Lithuania in 2016 signed a contract for the acquisition of 88 Boxer IFVs, and the Defence Ministry two years ago announced plans to purchase 120 more.
Additional government funding will also be used to acquire medium and short-range air defence systems and to complete the first IFV procurement phase.
Contracts are expected to be concluded this year after increasing military spending to 3 percent of GDP.
Last week, the government approved an additional 136 million euros for this year’s defence funding.
Some 51 million euros will be used for advance payments for medium-range air defence systems, 45 million euros for mobile short-range air defence systems, and 40 million euros for IFVs.
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