US moves troops, tanks into Lithuania in message to Russia
The United States began deploying a battalion of troops and dozens of tanks to Lithuania for an unprecedented six-month rotation on 21 October, a move sought by the Baltic EU and NATO state to deter neighbouring Russia.
Dozens of Abrams tanks and Bradley armoured vehicles arrived by railway at the army training area in Pabrade.
Lithuania's Defence Minister Raimundas Karoblis said the deployment of some 500 US troops scheduled to stay through the winter proves that a US military presence on NATO's eastern flank ‘is no longer a taboo’.
‘First and foremost, it is a message to Lithuania and neighbouring NATO states that allies are together with us,’ the minister told AFP. ‘And it is also a message to Russia that the US is engaged, and it is an additional deterrence element.’
Ben Hodges, the former commander of US Army forces in Europe, said the US deployment was a ‘manifestation of American commitment to continued deterrence along NATO's eastern flank’, at the time when US was pulling American troops out of Syria and abandoning its Kurdish allies.
‘Nobody, including the Russians, should be confused by the Americans' commitment to NATO despite what was I think a mistake of pulling out of Syria," Hodges told AFP.
Two years ago, NATO deployed a German-led multinational battalion of around 1,000 troops to Lithuania, an EU and NATO nation of 2.8 million people.
The alliance installed similar battalions in Poland and Baltic states Estonia and Latvia as tripwires against possible Russian adventurism in the region after Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
The entire region had been dominated by the Soviet Union for more than 40 years after World War II.
More from Land Warfare
-
![DSEI 2025: Polaris displays new all-terrain vehicle with Alakran mortar system]()
DSEI 2025: Polaris displays new all-terrain vehicle with Alakran mortar system
The Polaris Government and Defense’s Military RZR (MRZR) Alpha 1KW was displayed at the Modern Day Marine exposition in the US earlier this year and with the Alakran mobile mortar weapon system at DSEI. The company outlined recent firing trials with the Alakran mobile mortar weapon system (MMWS) which was weeks after the company announced a major NATO deal.
-
![The first of 663 BvS10s delivered to Germany, Sweden and the UK]()
The first of 663 BvS10s delivered to Germany, Sweden and the UK
The vehicles are based on the latest version of the BvS10 All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) and include variants for troop transport, logistics, medical evacuation, recovery, and command and control. An unarmoured version is being delivered to the US and offered to Canada.
-
![DSEI 2025: Thales creating new remote weapon station and Storm 2 counter-drone jammer]()
DSEI 2025: Thales creating new remote weapon station and Storm 2 counter-drone jammer
Thales launched Storm-H in 2012 as an EW system equipping individual dismounted troops, and a decade later revealed details to develop the improved and more powerful Storm 2.
-
![The integration between drones and land vehicles is accelerating]()
The integration between drones and land vehicles is accelerating
Drones and military ground vehicles are increasingly being designed to operate together as a single platform or even to convert crewed systems to automated ones.
-
![Denmark shuns US platform as it settles on SAMP/T air defence system]()
Denmark shuns US platform as it settles on SAMP/T air defence system
The acquisition, which is part of the country’s broader defence package worth DKK58 billion (US$9.2 billion), goes against the grain with many other European countries opting for the US’s popular Patriot platform.
-
![In depth: Competition for British Army vehicle programme heats up, despite more delays]()
In depth: Competition for British Army vehicle programme heats up, despite more delays
The UK’s Land Mobility Programme (LMP) seems set to be delayed once again but industry is jockeying for position to partner in what would be one of the biggest ever buys for the British Army.
