The Bundeswehr in Lithuania: Major steps towards the German manoeuvre brigade
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine caused Europe’s security architecture to falter. The NATO Allies are growing closer. Since the end of the Cold War, cohesion in the Alliance has never been as close as it is now. Accordingly, Germany is bringing a heavy manoeuvre brigade to Lithuania, consisting of 5,000 Bundeswehr personnel.
After Russia had annexed Crimea in 2014 in violation of international law, Eastern European NATO Allies knew that they were facing a new threat situation. Since then, the war in Ukraine, which will soon have been going on for two years, has shown all NATO partner countries just how important the commitments they made at the 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius are: to increase their own government spending for defence and to jointly strengthen the Alliance’s eastern flank.
“With this combat-ready brigade, we are taking on leadership responsibility within the Alliance here at NATO’s eastern flank”.
As a special signal of solidarity with the Allies, Germany is implementing this joint project by establishing a brigade for Lithuania. Permanent stationing of the brigade is regarded as a beacon project of the watershed era in security policy known as the “Zeitenwende”, announced by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Die Roadmap
Signing the roadmap in Vilnius on 18 December 2023 laid the foundation for the Bundeswehr to station 4,800 military personnel and 200 civilian personnel in Lithuania. Together with his Lithuanian counterpart Arvydas Anušauskas, Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius signed the agreement describing further steps in implementation on the way to stationing the brigade.
During the signing of the roadmap, the Minister made it clear that Germany is fulfilling its obligations to NATO with its commitment on the ground: “With this combat-ready brigade, we are taking on leadership responsibility within the Alliance here at NATO’s eastern flank”.
A tight schedule: the timetable for stationing a Bundeswehr brigade in Lithuania is set. The 4,800 military personnel from Germany are to be fully operational for the defence of NATO’s eastern flank in the Baltic region in three years’ time.
Bundeswehr | Image: Astrid Höffling | Photo: Jana NeumannBrigade in Lithuania – fully operational in 2027
In order to adhere to the ambitious timetable defined in the roadmap, targeted implementation will proceed step by step. In the second quarter of this year, an advance party will already start with preparations for stationing the brigade in Lithuania. By the end of the year, it will grow into an activation staff. The plan is to officially put the brigade in Lithuania into service in 2025 with an activation ceremony. After that, initial training and exercise activities will begin.
The brigade in Lithuania is expected to achieve its full operational capability by the end of 2027. Designed as a heavy manoeuvre brigade, it will in future be led by the Army’s Division 2025. This includes three major combat units:
- 122 Armoured Infantry Battalion from Oberviechtach in Bavaria
- 203 Tank Battalion from Augustdorf in North Rhine-Westphalia
- The multinational eFPenhanced Forward Presence Battle Group Lithuania is the third major combat unit to be integrated into the Bundeswehr brigade in Lithuania
This means that, until the brigade in Lithuania is operational, the eFPenhanced Forward Presence battle group will continue to hold its position and the eVAenhanced Vigilance Activities brigade – currently 21 Armoured Brigade from Augustdorf – will be available in Germany. In addition to the future brigade in Lithuania, there will be both combat and mission support forces, such as artillery, reconnaissance, supply and engineer capabilities, a brigade staff, staff and/or support and communications units as well as other support forces from different major military organisational elements – in other words: the whole works. After all, Bundeswehr military police forces, medical personnel and administrative staff are also needed in Lithuania for an operational and combat-ready force that can perform Germany’s most important security task: deterring aggressors in order to defend freedom and security.
Clear commitment to the Alliance
Germany has already been demonstrating its clear commitment to the Alliance and the resulting obligations for six years by leading the Enhanced Forward Presence (eFPenhanced Forward Presence) battle group in Lithuania. In response to the increasing threat posed by Russia, NATO Allies deployed what are known as battle groups, i.e. combat units, to the Eastern European NATO member countries in 2017 within the scope of “Enhanced Forward Presence”. The eFPenhanced Forward Presence battle group is part of the Lithuanian Iron Wolf Brigade and secures NATO’s eastern flank from Rukla, the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ largest barracks. Located approximately 100 kilometres northwest of Lithuania’s capital Vilnius, it is only 300 kilometres away from Russian territory.
In addition, a German brigade has been kept available in Germany for Enhanced Vigilance Activities (eVAenhanced Vigilance Activities) since September 2022. The forward command element (FCE) of this eVAenhanced Vigilance Activities brigade is permanently stationed in Rukla. Some 60 military personnel are deployed for the FCE of the eVAenhanced Vigilance Activities brigade along with their fellow soldiers in the eFPenhanced Forward Presence battle group.
Deterrence and defence in the Baltic
Together, they amount to about 800 German military personnel who are already serving in Lithuania. Other NATO Allies are participating on a rotational basis: at present, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg are providing military personnel for the eFPenhanced Forward Presence battle group in Lithuania. The entire multinational battle group in Lithuania comprises about 1,500 men and women.
NATO has deployed military personnel in multinational battle groups for deterrence and defence not only to Lithuania, but also to the Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia as well as Poland. More than 1,000 servicemen and women are stationed there for six months each. In addition to Germany in Lithuania, the UKUnited Kingdom is involved in Estonia, Canada in Latvia and the USUnited States in Poland as framework and lead nations. Four other battle groups are at the ready in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary.
The stationing of a brigade in a partner country is an ambitious undertaking. Deployment in the long-term and on this scale is also new for the German armed forces. That is why Germany and Lithuania are working together closely to implement the project. While Germany provides the troops, the partner country provides the military and civilian infrastructure. Plans are already being put into effect even now: for example, a 170-square-kilometre training area for the brigade in Lithuania is currently being built in Rūdninkai. Facilities that are not new will be modernised before being used by the Bundeswehr. It is not yet possible to predict when the structures will be completed and in what order. What is certain, however, is that the troops from Germany will not be transferred to Lithuania until the structural conditions for daytime duty and training activities have been created.
Unparalleled in the history of the Bundeswehr
The establishment of the brigade in Lithuania as an integral part of NATO defence planning on the eastern flank makes it especially clear that national and collective defence has once again become the Bundeswehr’s core mission in order to safeguard freedom and democracy. Never before in its history has the Bundeswehr permanently stationed so many military and civilian personnel abroad.
The permanent stationing of a brigade in Lithuania is one of the most ambitious projects in the history of the Bundeswehr. The unit is to be fully operational in 2027.
Bundeswehr | Image: Astrid Höffling
The places of duty and exercise areas will be the villages of Rūdninkai and Rukla near the two major cities of Vilnius and Kaunas. Since the end of 2023, Lithuania has already been producing the necessary military and civilian infrastructure at astonishing speeds – including infrastructure for the new military training area in Rūdninkai, which is located only ten kilometres away from Russian ally Belarus. This is where firing ranges and barracks are being built, including accommodation for exercising troops.
Reasons for the deployment
The permanent deployment of a brigade to Lithuania is a first in the history of the Bundeswehr. In line with the decisions taken at the Madrid and Vilnius summits, this Bundeswehr deployment contributes to strengthening forward defence, as the brigade will become one of the formations within NATO planning.
As a visible expression of the Zeitenwende and Germany’s commitment to providing security in Central and Eastern Europe, this is also a token of our responsibility for the security of the particularly exposed Allies on NATO’s eastern flank. It sends out a strong message in favour of NATO and is commensurate with Germany’s role in Europe.
Germany has been taking on special responsibility for Lithuania for some time now. For more than six years, Bundeswehr military personnel have been deployed in this Baltic country on rotation. Germany is in command of the multinational eFPenhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup protecting NATO’s eastern flank. Over 800 German servicemen and women are at the heart of the Alliance’s forward presence in Lithuania.
Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius once said it was important to “be able to fight a war so that we will not have to fight one”. With a combat-ready brigade permanently deployed at NATO’s border, Germany is contributing significantly to deterrence on the eastern flank.
In the eastern part of its territory, NATO is increasing its presence and the readiness of its forces. The public message is clear: NATO’s members stand united. To attack one member of the Alliance is to attack NATO as a whole. The Alliance can and will defend itself successfully, if it has to.
Lithuania has a great interest in this deployment and is grateful for Germany's commitment. Germany is Lithuania’s most important European partner and is very popular among Lithuanians.
Despite their massive losses in the war with Ukraine, Russia’s armed forces remain a threat to NATO. This threat is perceived particularly clearly in the Baltic region. The Baltic states have so far shown resilience in countering Russia’s years of attempted hybrid interventions. Nevertheless, Russian intelligence activities in the Baltic region remain at a high level.
Canada’s and the United Kingdom’s engagement in the Baltics is also extensive: Canada is the eFPenhanced Forward Presence framework nation in Latvia, the UKUnited Kingdom in Estonia. Canada plans to deploy two battalions of a brigade to Latvia by 2025. The United Kingdom will, in addition to the eFPenhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup in Estonia, earmark a brigade for rapid deployment to the Baltic region.
The 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act is a mutual political declaration of intent. It does not contain a deployment ban for NATO. In line with the times, it simply stated “that in the current and foreseeable security environment, the Alliance will carry out its collective defence and other missions by ensuring the necessary interoperability, integration, and capability for reinforcement rather than by additional permanent stationing of substantial combat forces.”
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has dramatically changed that security environment. Under these circumstances, the NATO-Russia Founding Act cannot be a limiting factor for the necessary expansion of NATO’s presence on the eastern flank. Russia has clearly violated its pledge from the Founding Act not to use force against other nations.
Agencies abroad are fairly common. For example, the Bundeswehr operates the German Air Force Tactical Training Command in Texas, USA, where Bundeswehr jet pilots are trained. 291 Light Infantry Battalion is stationed in France, some 15 minutes by car from the German border. The permanent deployment of an entire brigade, however, i.e. the stationing of several thousand Bundeswehr personnel abroad, some of whom are joined by their families, is a first in the history of the Bundeswehr.
Timelines and structure
Implementation started on 8 April 2024 with an advance party of about 20 personnel. In the fourth quarter of 2024 it will be expanded into an activation staff of some 150 personnel. In 2025, the brigade will become operational following an activation ceremony. Deployment will be incremental and depend significantly on the completion of military and civilian infrastructure. By the end of 2027, the brigade in Lithuania is scheduled to achieve full operational capability.
These requirements primarily include the provision of necessary and suitable infrastructure – both military and civilian – by Lithuania. In addition to barracks and exercise grounds, this entails accommodation for Bundeswehr personnel deployed to Lithuania and their families, but also schools and day-care facilities within reach of public or other means of transport.
Since the deployment is permanent there is no termination date scheduled for the foreseeable future.
Around 4.800 servicemen and women as well as approx. 200 civilian members of the Bundeswehr and support personnel from in-house companies will be deployed at two locations in Lithuania. The brigade will consist of three combat units as well as additional combat and support elements, including from other services and organisational areas such as: Medical Service and logistics, military police, administration, chaplain service as well as communication and information systems support.
At the heart of the brigade will be two existing combat battalions of the German army: 122 Armoured Infantry Battalion from Oberviechtach, Bavaria, and 203 Tank Battalion from Augustdorf in North Rhine-Westphalia. These tried and tested combat units will provide a powerful reinforcement for NATO’s eastern flank with their primary weapon systems, the Puma armoured infantry fighting vehicle and the Leopard 2 main battle tank.
The third manoeuvre unit of the brigade will consist of a multinational combat battalion. To this end, the present enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup will be incorporated into the brigade. Details on the structure are currently being coordinated with our partners. The German elements of this combat battalion will be provided from army structures on a rotational basis, similar to the system employed today with the enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup.
Locations and personnel
The German forces will be stationed at Rūdninkai and Rukla. These two locations are near the cities of Vilnius and Kaunas.
Residential accommodation will be established at Rūdninkai and Rukla. Individual housing in Kaunas and Vilnius is also planned, primarily for Bundeswehr personnel who are joined by their families.
Military and civilian personnel serving in the brigade will be posted to Lithuania. The duration of such a posting will be several years, depending on career and assignment. On operations abroad, by contrast, service personnel are part of contingents that are replaced by another contingent after an average of three months, which means they return to their units in Germany.
212 Armoured Infantry Battalion and 203 Tank Battalion will be relocated to Lithuania in their entirety and permanently. For the rotating German component of the future multinational combat battalion a unit will be selected from the structures of the German army and temporarily deployed to Lithuania, as has been the practice so far with the enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup. Meeting personnel requirements is a Bundeswehr-wide task.
Personnel selection and staffing will in principle start in summer 2024, ideally on a voluntary basis. However, the warfighting capability of the brigade remains the most important yardstick.
Materiel
A newly established brigade needs additional materiel, which must be procured. As a rule, it is possible to draw on existing framework contracts with the defence industry to ensure the best possible equipment. Available materiel will be used first, however.
Financing responsibilities of Germany and Lithuania, i.e. the question which side will be responsible for bearing which costs, will be negotiated in detail in the coming months.
As a partner country, Lithuania will also meet the needs of family members accompanying the troops, with day-care centres and schools as well as family-friendly accommodation and job opportunities in Kaunas and Vilnius. Good flight connections are also intended to facilitate travel between the two countries. An attractive setup and the best possible conditions for training, exercises and personal life are to ensure that the troops on site are motivated and effective.