Lithuanian Division Reinforced With Two Brigades and One Battalion

The Lithuanian Division has been reinforced with two infantry brigades, including the country’s most powerful one, as well as an engineer battalion.

This is reported by LRT.

It is reported that the division now includes the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ most powerful infantry brigade, Iron Wolf, the Žemaitija Infantry Brigade named after the Great Lithuanian Hetman Jonas Karolis Hodkevičius, as well as the Colonel Juozas Vitkauskas Engineer Battalion, which is subordinate to the division.

The Pennsylvania National Guard, the U.S. Army’s V Corps, and NATO’s multinational Northeast Corps were involved in the process of integrating the brigades into the division.

The military units were transferred to the division’s command after more than a year of work by the newly formed formation’s headquarters—personnel training was conducted, procedures were updated, and preparations were made for the acceptance and management of the units.

The headquarters’ year-long work was completed this year during exercises: the division headquarters participated in training in Germany, as well as in the U.S.-organized Warfighter 26-3 combat readiness exercises.

During these exercises, the capability of the division headquarters and its units to plan and conduct operations both independently and jointly with allies was assessed and officially confirmed.

The military formation, reinforced by core brigades, will continue to develop. In particular, the 1st Division will also be reinforced by the newly formed Aukštaitija Brigade, air defense, artillery, and engineer regiments, while existing brigades will be reinforced with tank and infantry fighting vehicle battalions.

The need to develop NATO countries’ national divisions as the primary tactical unit was officially recognized at the NATO summit in Madrid in 2022, and in Lithuania, it was approved at a meeting of the National Defence Council in May 2023 following a threat assessment and taking into account the Alliance’s regional defense plans.

Formed in January 2025, the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ national division will become one of the key factors in ensuring the defense of the country’s land territory in cooperation with allies.

Its existence will enable integrated operations with divisions from other NATO countries and ensure interoperability in maneuvering, fire support, logistics, and reconnaissance.

The unit is scheduled to be fully formed by 2030.