Lithuania Officially Reconstitutes 1st Mechanized Division

Lithuania has officially re-established the 1st Mechanized Division of the Armed Forces, which succeeded the unit formed in 1775.

This was reported by the Lithuanian Defense Ministry.

“Today we are celebrating the inauguration of the divisional command and staff element. The restoration of the 1st Division of the Lithuanian Armed Forces on the basis of the divisional tradition of the Republic of the Two Nations marks a qualitative leap in the Lithuanian Armed Forces. We are expanding our capabilities to deter and defeat the enemy. With this step, we will not stop and will continue to expand the Lithuanian Armed Forces to ensure the security of the Lithuanian state and citizens,” stated General Raimundas Vaikšnoras, Commander of the Lithuanian Armed Forces.

It is reported that the division will include the reserve brigades of the Lithuanian Land Forces “Iron Wolf”, “Zemaitios” and “Aukštaitios”.

In addition, the division will have air defense units, engineering, reconnaissance and artillery units at its disposal. Brigadier General Aurelius Alasauskas has been appointed commander of the division.

The new division headquarters will start operating this year and will be responsible for the military training of the units assigned to the division. It is planned to complete the formation of the division by 2030.

The need to develop NATO’s national divisions as the main tactical unit was officially raised at the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid and approved in Lithuania at a meeting of the National Defense Council in May 2023.

The division will have modern Western-made weapons in its arsenal, including PzH 2000 self-propelled artillery systems, Leopard 2 tanks, and CV90 infantry fighting vehicles.

Increased defense spending

On January 17, Militarnyi reported Lithuania’s plans to increase defense spending to 5-6% of its gross domestic product (GDP).

Such defense spending plans are to be implemented in 2026-2030. This is necessary to accelerate the deployment of the mechanized division.

According to the President of Lithuania, if the funding for national defense is not increased and the situation in the defense industry remains unchanged, the division will not be combat-ready until 2036-2040.

Therefore, he stated that in order to form the division by the scheduled date, defense allocations should reach 5.5% of GDP annually during the period.