Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas has invited the United States to contribute to the rotational air defence model in the region.
More news about the allies joining the model is expected in the fall, the minister said after a meeting with US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall in Vilnius on Wednesday.
“We have asked the secretary and the United States to support the rotational air defence model. […] We want it to be a permanent rotational model, that is what we are striving for,” Kasčiūnas told a joint press conference.
“We will see the results in the near future, and if the F-35 flies in our skies and has a place in Šiauliai, it will be an even stronger message of deterrence,” he added.
According to Kasciunas, the changes still need “a bit of time” after the NATO leadership took over air defence planning,
“The Washington summit took place in early July, and we are now in mid-August. Given certain seasonality, let’s give it a bit of time, the process will pick up in terms of planning, in terms of laying out, in terms of schedules,” Kasčiūnas said. “We are rolling up our sleeves and the fall will be the time when we will have more information.”
In his words, several countries are “quite close to certain decisions” on moving their capabilities to Lithuania for a short training period.
For his part, Kendall said the rotational air defence model is a good way to send a message to Russia.
“I think those types of deployments are highly likely to continue and to be emphasised in the future,” he said.
Speaking about the possibility of deploying F-35 fighter jets in Lithuania, Kendall said that a number of countries have acquired these aircraft.
“You could have every expectation of seeing F-35 here in the future. I think it is almost inevitable,” Kendall said.
Lithuania has, for some time, been asking NATO allies to contribute ground-based air defence systems as part of the regional rotational air defence model agreed upon last year. Lithuania has already discussed this possibility with the US, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, and other countries.
The Netherlands deployed Patriot long-range air defence systems to Lithuania for several weeks in July.
The rotational air defence model was agreed by NATO countries last June in response to calls from the Baltic states to reinforce their ongoing air policing mission.
The NATO summit in Washington in July agreed that rotational air defence in the Baltic Sea region should also be the responsibility of the alliance’s military leadership and not just of individual national politicians.
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