The Lithuanian-Polish Brave Griffin 24/II military exercise begins in the Suwalki gap and will last until April 26, 2024.

The Lithuanian media outlet LRT reported on this.

The armed forces of the United States and Portugal will take part in the exercise, and aviation will be involved in the Brave Griffin 24/II.

During the exercise, 1,500 soldiers of the Infantry Brigade named after the Great Lithuanian Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, together with their allies, are rehearsing defense scenarios in accordance with the bilateral Lithuanian-Polish Orsha Plan.

This 2022 plan was prepared by the commanders of the Lithuanian and Polish armies, and most of it is classified.

Lithuanian defense initiatives

Militarnyi previously reported that the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense is executing comprehensive reinforcement of a number of border sections together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The decision was made following a conversation between Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas and Minister of the Interior Agnė Bilotaitė.

First of all, they discussed comprehensive approaches to strengthening the border and building appropriate fortifications there.

Additionally, a proposal to strengthen the armament of the border guards, namely the transfer of machine guns from the armed forces stockpiles, was considered.

As previously reported, the Lithuanian government and Rheinmetall signed an agreement to build a factory to produce 155mm artillery ammunition.

The signed document sets out mutual obligations and intentions to start construction of the joint defense enterprise as soon as possible.

Officials have not yet disclosed details about the enterprise’s future and its design capacity.

The new facility is part of Rheinmetall’s long-term strategy, which plans to reach a production capacity of more than one million artillery rounds by 2027.