Air Defence Battalion | |
---|---|
Lithuanian: Oro gynybos batalionas | |
Active | 1935–1940 2000–present |
Country | Lithuania |
Branch | Lithuanian Air Force |
Type | Anti-air |
Role | Air defence |
Size | Over 300 |
Garrison/HQ | Radviliškis |
Anniversaries | 1 September 2000 |
Equipment | NASAMS RBS-70 PZR Grom |
Commanders | |
Commander | plk.ltn. Andrius Konovalovas [1] |
The Air Defence Battalion is the main air defence unit of the Lithuanian Air Force. It was created as part of efforts to strengthen and organise the air defence capabilities of the Lithuanian Air Force (LTAF), in 2000.
The present Air Defence Battalion is considered to be a revival of a similar unit in the air force of independent Republic of Lithuania between the World Wars, active from 1935 to 1940.
In 1998, efforts to develop and strengthen the LTAF defence capabilities began under supervision of Col. Česlovas Braziulis. That same year, Swedish Defence officials offered to donate weaponry, technical documentation and training programmes to for a battalion. At this time, the idea of establishing the battalion started to become a reality.
From 1999 to 2000 a group of LTAF troops took studies in military training institutions units in Sweden, where they received theoretical knowledge and practical experience working with battalion weaponry.
In July 2000, the LTAF established the Air Defence Battalion. Lt. Col. Remigijus Daujotis was appointed as Commander of the Battalion.
In September 2000, the Battalion received the first consignment of combat equipment from Sweden. Another shipment of combat equipment and ammunition arrived at the end of 2000. According to the bilateral agreement with Sweden, Swedish advisers who help Lithuanians adapt to the battalion's equipment presently work in the Air Defence Battalion.
In June 2020 the first Battery of NASAMS (National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System) medium-range air defence systems procured from Norway was delivered to the Battalion. The personnel is planned to be fully trained by 2021 and integration of the systems into the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System (NATINAMDS) will begin along with that. [2]
After February 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lithuania has donated 2 NASAMS launchers, [3] FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS', [4] and 36 Bofors L70 anti-aircraft guns [5] to Ukraine.
The Air Defence Battalion's primary missions include:
Development of infrastructure is one key missions of the Air Defence Battalion currently in the stage of development.
Model | Image | Origin | Variant | Details | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Surface-to-air missile systems | ||||||
NASAMS | Norway | NASAMS 3 | Ordered from Norway, with AIM-120 AMRAAM (AIM-120C-8) [6] missiles and MPQ-64 Sentinel air search radar. [7] Delivered in 2020. 2 NASAMS launchers were donated to Ukraine in 2023. [3] More systems for €200 million were ordered in December 2023. [8] | |||
AN/TWQ-1 Avenger | United States | Ordered from the United States in December 2022. [9] | ||||
Man-portable air-defence systems | ||||||
RBS-70 | Sweden | RBS 70 NG | Modernised to RBS-70 NG version. [10] | |||
FIM-92 Stinger | United States | FIM-92 Stinger | Acquired in 2007 "Dual Mount Stinger" modification with missiles, trainers, test missiles, MPQ-64 Sentinel radars, tactical control centres and Humvee trucks for transportation. [11] [12] Some Stingers have been donated to Ukraine. [4] | |||
PZR Grom | Poland | Grom | ||||
Radars | ||||||
Saab Giraffe | Sweden | Giraffe Mk-IV | Part of the SHORAD units. | |||
AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel | United States | Part of the short and medium range air defence systems. | ||||
TRML-3D | Germany | TRML-3D/32 | Acquired in 2004 [13] | |||
The Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus are the military forces of Belarus. It consists of the Ground Forces and the Air Force and Air Defence Forces, all under the command of the Ministry of Defence. As a landlocked country, Belarus has no navy, however the Belarusian military does have control over some small Soviet inherited naval vessels in its rivers and lakes.
The Latvian National Armed Forces, or NBS, are the armed forces of Latvia. Latvia's defense concept is based on a mobile professional rapid response force and reserve segment that can be called upon relatively fast for mobilization should the need arise. The National Armed Forces consists of Land Forces, Naval Forces, Air Force and National Guard. Its main tasks are to protect the territory of the State; participate in international military operations; and to prevent threats to national security.
The Lithuanian Armed Forces are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Naval Force, the Lithuanian Air Force and the Lithuanian Special Operations Force. In wartime, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service becomes part of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. A special security department handles VIP protection and communications security.
The MIM-104 Patriot is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the primary such system used by the United States Army and several allied states. It is manufactured by the U.S. defense contractor Raytheon and derives its name from the radar component of the weapon system. The AN/MPQ-53 at the heart of the system is known as the "Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target," which is a backronym for "Patriot". In 1984, the Patriot system began to replace the Nike Hercules system as the U.S. Army's primary high to medium air defense (HIMAD) system and the MIM-23 Hawk system as the U.S. Army's medium tactical air defense system. In addition to these roles, Patriot has been given a function in the U.S. Army's anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system. As of 2016, the system is expected to stay fielded until at least 2040.
The Ukrainian Air Force is the air force of Ukraine and one of the seven branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Its current form was created in 2004 by merging the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces into the Air Force.
NASAMS is a distributed and networked short- to medium-range ground-based air defense system developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) and Raytheon. The system defends against unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), helicopters, cruise missiles, unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), and fixed wing aircraft, firing any of a wide range of existing missiles.
The Hungarian Air Force, is the air force branch of the Hungarian Defence Forces.
The Lithuanian Air Force or LAF is the military aviation branch of the Lithuanian armed forces. It is formed from professional military servicemen and non-military personnel. Units are located at Zokniai Air Base near the city Šiauliai, at Radviliškis and Kaunas.
The Ukrainian Ground Forces, also referred to as the Ukrainian army, are the land forces of Ukraine and one of the eight branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They were formed from Ukrainian units of the Soviet Army after Ukrainian independence, and trace their ancestry to the 1917–22 army of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
Short range air defense (SHORAD) is a group of anti-aircraft weapons and tactics that have to do with defense against low-altitude air threats, primarily helicopters and low-flying aircraft such as the A-10 or Sukhoi Su-25. SHORAD and its complements, HIMAD and THAAD divide air defense of the battlespace into domes of responsibility based on altitude and defensive weapon ranges.
The Slovak Air Force, known since 2002 as the Air Force of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic, is the aviation and air defense branch of the Slovak Armed Forces. Operating 15 aircraft and 18 helicopters from three air bases : Malacky–Kuchyňa, Sliač, Prešov. It succeeded the Czechoslovak Air Force together with the Czech Air Force in 1993. The Slovak Air Force is part of NATO Integrated Air Defense System – NATINADS.
The Estonian Land Forces, unofficially referred to as the Estonian Army, is the name of the unified ground forces among the Estonian Defense Forces where it has an offensive military formation role. It is currently the largest Estonian military branch, with an average size of approximately 6,000 soldiers, conscripts, and officers during peacetime.
The 16th Air Defence Battalion is the Estonian Defence Forces air-defence artillery force which has a supportive military formation role among the Estonian Land Forces. Other units might have an anti-aircraft missile component, but the Air Defence Battalion is a unit dedicated to air-defence and relying on other units for infantry support, especially when defending. The main task of this formation is to provide air-defence protection and light gun support for the infantry brigades operating on the battlefield.
Lithuania–Ukraine relations are foreign relations between Lithuania and Ukraine. Both countries are members of the Lublin Triangle, OSCE, Council of Europe, World Trade Organization and United Nations. Lithuania supports Ukraine's European Union and NATO membership. Lithuania has an embassy in Kyiv and Ukraine has an embassy in Vilnius.
The Lithuanian Land Forces (LLF) form the backbone of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, capable of acting as an integral part of NATO forces. Lithuanian Land Forces consist of three brigades, the Engineer Battalion, and the National Defence Volunteers Division.
Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) is a NATO-allied forward-deployed defense and deterrence military force in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. This posture in Northern Europe through Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and in Central Europe through Poland, Slovakia and Hungary and in Eastern Europe through Romania and Bulgaria, is in place to protect and reassure the security of NATO's Northern, Central and Eastern European member states on NATO's eastern flank.
The Ukrainian Air Defence Forces were an anti-aircraft military service of Ukraine, active from 1992 to 2004.
The Kyiv Independence Day Parade has been the main event of various celebrations of the Independence Day of Ukraine, which is celebrated annually in Kyiv on August 24.
The 2023 Vilnius summit was a meeting of the heads of state and heads of government of the thirty-one members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), their partner countries, and the European Union, held in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 11–12 July 2023. The summit was officially proposed during the previous 2022 Madrid summit and its dates were fixed on 9 November 2022. It was notable for the discussions about the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as Sweden and Ukraine's prospective memberships into the alliance.
As of this edit, this article uses content from "Lithuanian Armed Forces :: Structure » Air Force » Structure » Air Defence Battalion of the Lithuanian Air Forces" , which is licensed in a way that permits reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, but not under the GFDL. All relevant terms must be followed.
Based on the contracts between Lithuania and the U.S. Government, Lithuanian Air Force equipment pool has been strengthened with the Avenger short-range air defence system and NASAMS mid-range air defence system.