Off the wire
• Plague in humans 3,300 years earlier than previously thought: study  • Chinese company launches joint cement venture with Namibia company  • Roundup: Lithuania should introduce zero alcohol limit for drivers: minister  • Cambodian PM's 2nd son promoted to army intelligence unit chief  • Crowded Chinese offices stressing workers: report  • Red Cross says deeply concerned about increased fighting in Yemen  • French stock market index up 2.28 pct on Thursday  • (Sports) Latest world badminton rankings for women's doubles  • European officials sign Riga Protocol on foreign terrorist fighters  • Three member states referred to EU Court of Justice over electronic transport registers  
You are here: 　 Home

U.S. rotational forces to bring tanks, vehicles to Lithuania

Xinhua, October 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

A new shift of U.S. rotational forces coming to Lithuania are to bring Abrams battle tanks and Bradley armored fighting vehicles with them, the Lithuanian defense ministry said on Thursday.

According to a ministry press release, the new shift of around 230 troops is bringing 70 vehicles, including five M1A2 Abrams battle tanks and 13 Bradley armored fighting vehicles.

"Training with military units that Allies deploy in Lithuania with various military equipment has already become routine for Lithuanian soldiers," Major General Almantas Leika, the commander of the Lithuanian Land Force, said in the release.

It's the second time the rotational U.S. forces have brought Abrams tanks to trainings in Lithuania.

The new shift of U.S. troops is coming from their base in Manheim, Germany, on Thursday and Friday.

The arriving soldiers are also to take part in Iron Sword 2015, an international exercise in Lithuania beginning Nov. 8, the defense ministry said.

Lithuanian officials haven't revealed whether the incoming U.S. military hardware is to be deployed in Lithuania for longer term or for the period of the new rotation.

Last week, the Lithuanian defense ministry announced strengthening U.S. rotational forces' supply capabilities. Juozas Olekas, Lithuania's defense minister, then said the U.S. supply unit in southern Lithuania was "one of the preparatory stages of Allies for long-term deployment of rotation forces".

Earlier this summer, Lithuanian officials expressed their willingness for the United States to deploy their heavy weapons in the Baltic country.

In June, the United States announced it would send around 250 tanks, fighting vehicles and howitzers to Eastern Europe, including the Baltics.

The U.S. rotational forces have been present in Lithuania and attending joint military exercises since early 2014 in alleged response to the changed security situation in eastern Europe amid conflicts in eastern Ukraine. Endit