Lithuania Army

The Lithuanian Land Force (Sausumos pajėgos), headquartered in Vilnius, is the largest service of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, comprising professional troops, conscripts serving nine-month terms, and the volunteer reserve. Its principal formation is the 1st Division, re-established at Rukla in January 2025 and assigned to Multinational Corps Northeast in Szczecin. In 2026 the division took over the colours and command of the Land Force's manoeuvre units, with full operational capability planned for 2030.

Subordinate to the division are the Mechanised Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf at Rukla, whose battalions carry historical designations (Grand Duke Algirdas, King Mindaugas, Grand Duchess Birutė, Grand Duke Vytenis and a hussar battalion converting to the armoured role); the Great Hetman Jonas Karolis Chodkevičius Infantry Brigade Griffin, a motorised formation based in the Klaipėda region and formerly named Žemaitija; and the reserve Aukštaitija Brigade, in formation at Pajuostis near Panevėžys. Divisional troops include an artillery regiment at Rukla, the Colonel Juozas Vitkus Engineer Regiment at Kaunas, and reconnaissance and logistics units. The National Defence Volunteer Forces field six territorial units covering the country, and the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union provides an additional paramilitary reserve.

Mechanised infantry operates the Vilkas infantry fighting vehicle, the Lithuanian variant of the Boxer with a 30 mm Rheinmetall turret and Spike LR anti-tank missiles; a follow-on order for further Vilkas vehicles in command, ambulance and engineer configurations was placed to equip divisional units. M113A2 tracked carriers and a large fleet of JLTV and Unimog wheeled vehicles equip motorised and support units. Artillery consists of PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers, CAESAR Mk II 6x6 wheeled guns ordered from KNDS France to replace towed M101 pieces, and M142 HIMARS launchers, the first of which have been received with a second battery contracted in 2026 and full operational capability expected in 2027. Anti-armour capability rests on Javelin and Spike systems. Ground-based air defence, operated by the Air Force but supporting the division, comprises NASAMS medium-range systems, with RBS 70 NG and Piorun very-short-range missiles replacing older Stinger and GROM stocks.

Lithuania has no domestic armoured vehicle industry of its own, but a KNDS Deutschland assembly and maintenance plant is under construction at Kaunas for the 44 Leopard 2A8 tanks ordered in a contract worth roughly 950 million euros; these will equip a national tank battalion, with the first locally assembled vehicle expected around 2028.

Land Force troops previously served in Iraq, Afghanistan (leading the Ghor provincial reconstruction team), the Balkans and Mali. Current commitments include KFOR in Kosovo, NATO Mission Iraq, EUMAM Ukraine and the UK-led Operation Interflex training Ukrainian personnel. Domestically, units support border security on the frontier with Belarus and host the German 45th Armoured Brigade at Rudninkai and Rukla.