Lithuanian Navy. What is it, the army of Lithuania? Mobilization potential and equipment in peacetime

Banner of the Lithuanian Army. 1918 - 1940

Army Lithuanian ( Lietuvos kariuomenė) began to form in November 1918, mainly from among Lithuanians - former servicemen of the Russian army who found themselves during the First World War of 1914 - 1918. in German captivity and released from it during the occupation of Lithuanian lands by the German army in 1915-1918, as well as territorial self-defense units. Volunteers were recruited into the army, but from January 1919 military service was declared.

In 1919 - 1920. The Lithuanian army fought against the Red Army of the RSFSR, Polish army and the white Western Volunteer Army (Russian and German volunteers). Lithuanians lost 1401 people killed during this period, 2766 wounded and 829 missing.

On January 15, 1923, units of the Lithuanian Army (1078 people) defeated the French garrison in Memel (Klaipeda). The parties lost 12 Lithuanians, two Frenchmen and one German policeman killed.

Lithuanian soldiers. 1920s

Between 1920 and 1938, the Lithuanian-Polish border was closed. From time to time, small armed conflicts arose on it.

Thus, for 20 years after the end of hostilities in 1920, the Lithuanian Army did not conduct any noticeable military operations, with the exception of the peaceful entry of its units into the Vilna region in October 1939.

Over time, the Lithuanian Army began to experience a shortage of qualified commanders, and officers who had completed military school in Russian Empire and volunteer officers from the UK, Sweden, Germany and the USA were clearly not enough. Therefore, the officer corps began to prepare in military schools of various levels. To obtain a junior officer rank (junior lieutenant ( jaunesnysis leitenantas)) it was required to graduate from the Kaunas military school founded in 1919 ( Kauno karo mokykla). Since 1935, preparations have been going on for three years. By 1940, 15 graduates had graduated from this school. The school was headed by Brigadier General Jonas Juodishus ( Jonas Juodisius).

Headquarters officers (from major and above), in order to comply with the highest command positions, were trained on the Officer Courses of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt based in 1921 ( Vytauto Didžiojo karininkų kursai). Until 1940, 500 officers graduated from these courses. The course was led by Brigadier General Stasis Dirmantas ( Stasys Dirmantas).

In addition, some Lithuanian staff officers graduated from military academies abroad - mainly in Belgium and Czechoslovakia.

At the Officer Courses of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt, there was a department for the training of military pilots.

The sergeants were trained in non-commissioned officer schools attached to the regiments. The course of study lasted 8 months.

On June 1, 1940 The Lithuanian army consisted of 28,005 people - 2031 civilians and 26,084 military personnel - 1728 officers, 2091 foremen (non-commissioned officers, junior non-commissioned officers, non-commissioned officer candidates) and 22,265 soldiers.

The structure of the Lithuanian Armed Forces was as follows:

Higher military administration. According to the constitution, the head of all the armed forces of the country was the president of the republic, Antanas Smetona ( Antanas Smetona). The President had an advisory body - the National Defense Council, which included the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Commander-in-Chief, and the head of the army supply service. Minister of Defense Brigadier General Kazys Musteikis ( Kazys Musteikis) was directly subordinate to the president, he was the head of the armed forces and the manager of the country's military budget, an advisory body, the Military Council, worked under him.

The Commander-in-Chief was subordinate to the Minister of Defense - until April 22, 1940, he was division general Stasis Rashtikis ( Stasys Rastikis), he was replaced by division general Vincas Vitkauskas ( Vincas Vitkauskas).

The General Staff was subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief of the Lithuanian Army.

local military administration. The territory of Lithuania was divided into three divisional military districts. Their commanders were part-time commanders infantry divisions. The county commandant's offices were subordinate to them: Panevezys, Kedainiai, Ukmerge, Utenos, Zarasai, Rokiskis, Raseiniai, Kaunas, Trakai, Alytus, Mariampole, Vilkavishki, Shakiai, Seiniai, Birzhai, Siauliai, Mazeikiai, Telshai, Tauragė, Kretinga.

In the Vilnius region, after its annexation to Lithuania in October 1939, they did not have time to create commandant's offices.

Ground Army. The land army of the Republic of Lithuania in peacetime states included three infantry divisions, a cavalry brigade, an armored detachment, an air defense unit, two engineering battalions, and a communications battalion.

Infantry divisions consisted of command, three infantry and one artillery regiments.

The infantry regiments consisted of 2-3 battalions, a mounted reconnaissance platoon, an air defense platoon, an engineering, chemical platoon, a communications company, in a battalion there were three rifle (three platoons each), one machine gun (four machine gun platoons and a platoon of automatic guns) company, in a regiment 10 - 15 20mm automatic cannons, 10 - 15 mortars, 150 - 200 light and 70 - 100 heavy machine guns.

The artillery regiments consisted of three groups of two cannon and one howitzer batteries in each, the battery had four guns and two light machine guns, and in total there were 24 75 mm cannons and 12 105 mm howitzers in the regiment (exception: 2nd group of the 4th artillery regiment was armed not with 75mm French, but with 18-pounder British guns).

In addition to artillery, the divisions also had a separate training artillery group (300 people) and the 11th artillery (former reserve) regiment (300 people).

The cavalry brigade consisted of three regiments, commanded by Brigadier General Kazis Tallat-Kelpsha ( Kazys Tallat-Kelpsa ).

Lithuanian cavalry on exercises.

The cavalry brigade existed only nominally and the cavalry regiments were attached to the infantry divisions:

With the 1st division: 3rd Dragoon Regiment "Iron Wolf" ( Trečiasis dragūnų Geležinio Vilko pulkas) - 1100 people;

At the 2nd division: 1st hussar regiment of the Grand Hetman of the Lithuanian prince Jan Radvill ( Pirmasis husarų Lietuvos Didžiojo Etmono Jonušo Radvilos pulkas) - 1028 people;

At the 3rd division: 2nd Lancers Grand Duchess Biruty Regiment ( Antrasis ulonų Lietuvos Kunigaikštienės Birutės pulkas) - 1000 people.

Each cavalry regiment consisted of four saber, machine-gun, technical squadrons, and a cannon platoon; horse batteries had 4 76.2 mm guns each.
The air defense unit (800 people), created in 1934, included three batteries of three 75mm Vickers-Armstrong anti-aircraft guns, four batteries of 20mm German anti-aircraft guns of the 1928 model, and a searchlight battery.

The armored detachment (500 people) consisted of three tank companies (the 1st company - 12 obsolete French Renault-17 tanks, the 2nd and 3rd companies - 16 new British Vickers-Carden-Lloyd MkIIa light tanks each), armored vehicles (six Swedish armored vehicles Landsverk-182).

Lithuanian armored detachment on the march. October 1939

Engineer battalions were at the disposal of the army commander.

The 1st battalion (800 people) consisted of three engineering and one training companies;

The 2nd battalion (600 men) consisted of two engineering and one training companies.

The communications battalion (1000 people) served to provide communications to the high military command and consisted of a headquarters communications officer, two telephones, two training companies, dog school and pigeon mail.

The infantry was armed with rifles of German (Mauser 98-II), Czechoslovak (Mauser 24), Belgian (Mauser 24/30), Lithuanian (Mauser L - Lithuanian copy of the Belgian rifle) production; German machine guns Maxim 1908 and Maxim 1908/15, Czechoslovak light machine guns Zbrojovka Brno 1926, in total there were approximately 160,000 rifles, 900 machine guns and 2,700 light machine guns.
Swiss automatic 20mm Oerlikon guns were widely used in the Lithuanian Army, even on Landsverk-181 armored vehicles ordered by Lithuania from Swedish factories, standard weapons were replaced with these guns (this model became known as Landsverk-182). The same cannon was installed on a batch of Czechoslovak TNH Praha tanks, which the Lithuanian government ordered and managed to pay for, but did not manage to receive due to the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.

The Lithuanian Army had 150 20mm Oerlikon cannons, about 100 Stokes-Brandt 81.4mm mortars made in Sweden, nine British 75mm Vickers-Armstrong anti-aircraft guns, 100 German 20mm anti-aircraft guns 2cm Flak.28; field artillery was armed with 114 French 75mm field guns (including three Polish production 1902/26, interned in September 1939), 70 French 105mm and 2 155mm Schneider howitzers, 12 English 18-pounder (83.8mm) guns , 19 Russian 3-inch (76.2 mm) guns model 1902, as well as a large number of polish 37mm anti-tank guns Bofors 1936, inherited by Lithuania in 1939 as trophies.

Air Force. In addition to foreign models, the Lithuanian Air Force was armed with ANBO aircraft of the actual Lithuanian construction of the designer Antanas Gustaitis ( Antanas Gustaitis), who at the same time, in the rank of brigadier general, headed the air force of the republic.

Antanas Gustaitis

Organizationally, aviation included a headquarters, a military aviation commandant's office, a fighter, bomber and reconnaissance air group, a military aviation school, a total of 1300 people. According to the states, it was supposed to have three squadrons in each air group, but there were only eight squadrons (117 aircraft and 14 20mm anti-aircraft guns):

Lithuanian military pilots. 1937

Training aviation had ANBO-3, ANBO-5, ANBO-51, ANBO-6 vehicles and old German aircraft. In total, the Lithuanian Air Force on January 1, 1940 included:

Training: one Albatross J.II (1919), one Albatross C.XV (1919), one Fokker D.VII (1919), two L.V.G. C-VI (1919), five ANBO-3s (1929-32), four ANBO-5s (1931-32), 10 ANBO-51s (1936-40), three ANBO-6s (1933-34), 10 German Bückers -133 Jungmeister (1938-39), two Avro 626 (1937);

Two British De Haviland DH-89 Dragon Rapid (1937), 1 Lockheed L-5c Vega Lituanika-2 (1936) - the legendary aircraft that crossed the Atlantic, built in the USA with the money of Lithuanian emigrants.

Fighters 7 Italian Fiat CR.20 (1928), 13 French Devuatin D.501 (1936-37), 14 English Gloucester Gladiator MkI (1937);

Bombers and scouts 14 Italian Ansaldo Aizo A.120 (1928), 16 ANBO-4 (1932-35), 17 ANBO-41 (1937-40), 1 ANBO-8 (1939);

Interned in September 1939, the Polish bomber PZL-46 Som (1939), German fighters Henschel-126 B-1 and Messerschmitt-109c.

Military naval forces. The Lithuanian Navy was weak, which was explained by the small length of its maritime border. Even the former German minesweeper was simply referred to as "warship" in official documents. In the ranks were a warship " Prezidentas Smetona", border ship " Partisanas and six motor boats.

« Prezidentas Smetona"was built in 1917 in Germany as a minesweeper and was sold to Lithuania in 1927. It was armed with two 20mm Oerlikon cannons and six machine guns. Crew - 76 people. It was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense of the Territory.

Team " Prezidentas Smetona". 1935

On the " Partisanas"There was one Oerlikon cannon and two machine guns.

The rest of the ships were unarmed.

In total, 800 people served in the Lithuanian naval forces.

Acquisition. Acquisition was carried out on the basis of a universal military service; draft age 21.5 years, service life 1.5 years, after active service, a person liable for military service was on conditional leave for two years and could be called up by order of the Minister of Defense, then transferred to the reserve of the 1st category, from where he could be called up only upon mobilization announced by the president. After 10 years, a person liable for military service was transferred to the reserve of the 2nd category.

The call was held twice a year - May 1 and November 1; the annual contingent of 20,000 young men was not called up entirely, but only 13,000 people, who were determined by lot, the rest were immediately enrolled in the reserve of the 1st category.

Wartime army. According to the mobilization plans, the army was to consist of six infantry divisions and two cavalry brigades. The deployed division by states included:

Management (127 people);
- three infantry regiments of three battalions (3,314 people per regiment);
- artillery regiment(1748 people);
- a motorized air defense company (167 people);
- engineering battalion (649 people);
- communications battalion (373 people).

In total, the wartime division consisted of 13,006 people.

Mobilization aviation increased to 3799 people, naval forces - up to 2000 people, 1st and 2nd engineer battalions - up to 1500 people, communications battalion - up to 2081 people, cavalry - up to 3500 people.

In total, about 92,000 soldiers and officers. In addition, separate infantry battalions of 1009 people each were formed. Their number was determined by the possibilities and need.

paramilitary formations. The Border Guard was subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior and was subdivided into eight departments (districts). It included 1,800 people, including 1,200 on the border with the USSR.

Lithuanian Riflemen's Union ( Lietuvos šaulių sąjunga) was created in 1918 and performed the functions of the national guard - guarded state property, provided disaster relief, and assisted the police. AT war time was supposed to carry out guard duty at important government and military facilities, as well as conduct partisan operations behind enemy lines.

Lithuanian arrows. 1938

Every citizen who has reached the age of 16, has passed candidate experience and received recommendations from five members of the Union could become a member of the Union. The head of this formation was Colonel Salagius, and the union was directly subordinate to the General Staff. The Union of Riflemen was subdivided into 24 district detachments of various sizes: from 1000 to 1500 people with 30 to 50 machine guns.

The total strength of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union on June 1, 1940 consisted of 68,000 people, and its arsenal included 30,000 rifles and 700 machine guns of various systems.

Red Army soldiers and Lithuanian military personnel. Autumn 1940

After the inclusion of Lithuania into the USSR on August 17, 1940, the Lithuanian Army was reorganized into the 29th Lithuanian Territorial Rifle Corps of the Red Army (179th and 184th rifle divisions with a cavalry regiment and an aviation squadron). The corps was headed by the former Commander-in-Chief of the Lithuanian Army, Divisional General Vincas Vitkauskas, who received the rank of lieutenant general in the Red Army.

A significant part of the Lithuanian officers were repressed, and in December 1941 those who remained were assigned military ranks Red Army. However, most of these officers and generals were also arrested in early June 1941.

The servicemen retained their former uniforms, only replacing the Lithuanian insignia with Soviet military symbols.

The corps as part of the 11th Army of the Baltic Military District participated in battles with the German army in 1941, but was disbanded in August of the same year due to mass desertion.

The tank park of the former Lithuanian Army was lost by the Red Army during the summer battles of 1941 in the Baltic states.

Ship " Prezidentas Smetona"was included in Baltic Fleet USSR, renamed "Coral" and took part in the fighting during the Second World War. On January 11, 1945, the ship sank after hitting a mine in the Gulf of Finland.

See: Kudryashov I.Yu. The last army of the republic. Armed forces Lithuania on the Eve of the Occupation of 1940 // Sergeant Magazine. 1996. No. 1.
See: Rutkiewicz J., Kulikow W. Wojsko litewskie 1918 - 1940. Warszawa, 2002.

Small arms and anti-tank weapons of the Lithuanian army actually meet the specified criterion - the soldiers have automatic rifles M-14 and M-16, pistols "Colt" and "Glock" and even anti-tank missile system"Javelin". But the vehicles of the Lithuanian Armed Forces on the ground are not so good, since for the most part they are outdated Soviet-made BTR-60, BRDM-2, MT-LB.

Of all the types and types of troops, the country's naval forces (Navy) are the weakest. Although the republic has strong maritime traditions, the core of the Lithuanian Navy is two British-made Hunt minesweepers and several Norwegian (Storm type) and Danish (Fluvefisken type) patrol boats. However, none of the ships has missile weapons, although the advanced complex of guided missile weapons on board is the main trend of the naval forces in the 21st century.

Against the background of the Baltic Fleet of Russia, this mosquito squadron looks extremely small, however, the main trouble is not in the number of Lithuanian minesweepers and patrol boats (there are only 12 of them), but in their quality.

Consider combat capabilities Lithuanian warships.

British minesweeper Hunt

Ships of this type began to be built in 1980.

The base minesweeper with a displacement of 615 tons, a length of 60 meters and a width of 10 meters has a fiberglass hull, a two-shaft power plant (two diesel engines with a total capacity of 3800 Horse power) and a speed of about 35 kilometers per hour. Crew - 45 people. For a more complete characterization, numbers and naval terms cannot be avoided.

The main armament of the minesweeper: one Bofors anti-aircraft gun mount of 40 mm caliber (during the Second World War) and two artillery mounts caliber 20 mm.

The Hunt electronic armament includes a navigation radar station, the Matilda UAR-1 electronic warfare system, a 193M type mine-search sonar station, and a second sonar station - mine warning "Mil Cross".

To search for mines on the minesweeper there is a team of scuba divers-miners and two autonomous underwater vehicles to neutralize French-made mines of the late 1980s are placed on the minesweeper.

One gets the impression that the main task of the Lithuanian military sailors in combat conditions is to practically manually clear the Baltic fairway from mines for other NATO members, who will come later to the rescue of Lithuania.

Storm patrol boat

Such ships began to be built 55 years ago. For example, the Lithuanian boat P33 Skalvis (aka the Norwegian Steil P969) was built in 1967; he worked hard in his native Norwegian Navy and was withdrawn from service in 2000. Shortly after decommissioning, the Norwegians sold it to a Baltic ally. Note that this is not the oldest Storm type boat in Lithuania.

The displacement of the boat is 100 tons, the length is 36 meters and the width is 6 meters. Two diesel engines with a total capacity of 6000 horsepower provide a speed of up to 60 kilometers per hour. Crew - 19 people.

These relatively small boats, which were part of the Norwegian Navy, were armed with Penguin Mk1 anti-ship missiles (ASMs). Unlike other anti-ship missiles, the Penguins were equipped with an infrared rather than a radar guidance system, flew a maximum of 20 kilometers and rarely hit the target.

Boats were sold to Lithuania without missile weapons. And this is understandable, because the task of Storm is to apply missile attack on enemy ships with subsequent "flight" to the Norwegian fjords. There are no fjords in the Baltic, so there is no need to anger the enemy once again.

Storm left only the old 76mm gun mount and the Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun. Hydroacoustic station and anti-submarine weapons on such boats were absent initially.

For understanding overall picture: by 2000, all 19 Storm boats were withdrawn from the Norwegian Navy, and seven of them (after the dismantling of missile weapons) were transferred to Latvia (3 units), Lithuania (3) and Estonia (1). With the Danish boats "Fluvefisken" - about the same story.

Worn-out armament "from the lord's shoulder" reflects the attitude of Brussels towards the Baltic allies. In turn, the authorities of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia continue to pretend that everything is going according to plan, that "military" money is spent prudently and "Russian aggression", including from the sea, will be repelled. "Three wise men in one basin set sail in a thunderstorm" ...

Editorial opinion may not reflect the views of the author.

The small arms and anti-tank weapons of the Lithuanian army actually meet the specified criteria - the soldiers have M-14 and M-16 automatic rifles, Colt and Glock pistols, and even the Javelin anti-tank missile system. But the vehicles of the Lithuanian Armed Forces on the ground are not so good, since for the most part they are outdated Soviet-made BTR-60, BRDM-2, MT-LB.

Of all the types and types of troops, the country's naval forces (Navy) are the weakest. Although the republic has a strong maritime tradition, the core of the Lithuanian Navy is two Hunt-class minesweepers made in the UK and several Norwegian (Storm-class) and Danish (Fluvefisken-class) patrol boats. At the same time, none of the ships has missile weapons, although a developed complex of guided missile weapons on board is the main trend of the naval forces in the 21st century.

Consider the combat capabilities of the Lithuanian warships.

British minesweeper Hunt

Ships of this type began to be built in 1980.

The base minesweeper with a displacement of 615 tons, a length of 60 meters and a width of 10 meters has a fiberglass hull, a two-shaft power plant (two diesel engines with a total capacity of 3800 horsepower) and a speed of about 35 kilometers per hour. Crew - 45 people. For a more complete characterization, numbers and naval terms cannot be avoided.

The main armament of the minesweeper: one Bofors anti-aircraft gun mount of 40 mm caliber (during the Second World War) and two artillery mounts of 20 mm caliber.

The Hunt electronic weapons include a navigation radar station, the Matilda UAR-1 electronic warfare system, a mine-search sonar station of the 193M type, and a second sonar station - warnings about the mine danger "Mil Cross".

To search for mines on the minesweeper there is a team of scuba divers-miners and two autonomous underwater vehicles to neutralize French-made mines of the late 1980s are placed on the minesweeper.

It seems that the main task of the Lithuanian sailors in combat conditions is to practically manually clear the Baltic channel from mines for other NATO members, who will come later to the rescue of Lithuania.

Storm patrol boat

Boats were sold to Lithuania without missile weapons. And this is understandable, because the task of Storm is to launch a missile attack on enemy ships, followed by "flight" to the Norwegian fjords. There are no fjords in the Baltic, so there is no need to anger the enemy once again.

Storm left only the old 76mm gun mount and the Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun. The hydroacoustic station and anti-submarine weapons on such boats were absent initially.

To understand the big picture: by 2000, all 19 Storm boats were withdrawn from the Norwegian Navy, and seven of them (after the dismantling of missile weapons) were transferred to Latvia (3 units), Lithuania (3) and Estonia (1). With the Danish boats "Fluvefisken" - about the same story.

Worn-out armament "from the lord's shoulder" reflects the attitude of Brussels towards the Baltic allies. In turn, the authorities of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia continue to pretend that everything is going according to plan, “military” money is spent prudently and “Russian aggression”, including from the sea, will be reflected. “Three wise men in one basin set sail in a thunderstorm” ...

The Republic of Lithuania spends about 0.8 percent of GDP on defense (in 2012, almost $344 million). The country's army, one might say, is weak and poorly equipped, and it has no opportunities to mobilize larger forces. basis ground forces is only one brigade of infantry. The armed forces of Lithuania cannot defend the country on their own, without the help of the North Atlantic Alliance. But in Lithuania there are volunteer formations ready to remember the partisan experience if the enemy suddenly attacks.

The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of ground forces, naval forces, air force and troops special operations. They trace their history back to the Lithuanian army - the army of the Republic of Lithuania in 1918-1940. Shortly after the surrender of Germany in the First World War on November 23, 1918, the authorities of the newly created Republic of Lithuania issued an act on the formation of the army. This day is celebrated as the Day of Lithuanian Warriors.

Three wars in two years

On December 20, 1918, the chairman of the Council of Lithuania, Antanas Smetona, and the Prime Minister of Lithuania, Augustinas Voldemaras, arrived in Germany to receive assistance in the formation of the armed forces. Until the end of the year, Germany paid Lithuania 100 million marks in reparations, which were used to purchase weapons for the army. Basically, it was the weapons left by the German troops in Lithuania. At the end of December 1918, the new Lithuanian government, headed by Mykolas Slezheviches, issued an appeal calling for voluntarily joining the army to defend the homeland. Volunteers were promised to be given land. In parallel, Germany began to form volunteer units in the Baltics. Parts of the 1st German Volunteer Division arrived in Lithuania from Germany in January 1919. All German units, including volunteers, left Lithuania in July 1919.

On March 5, 1919, mobilization into the Lithuanian army was announced. Its number by the end of the summer reached eight thousand. The Lithuanians had to fight against the Red Army, which invaded Lithuania from the east. On January 5, 1919, Soviet troops occupied Vilnius, and on January 15, Šiauliai. Lithuanian troops with the help of the German volunteer corps (10 thousand people) stopped the Red Army at Kedainaya. On February 10, the combined German-Lithuanian troops defeated the Soviets at Sheta near Kaunas and forced them to retreat. The Germans fought in Lithuania until the end of May 1919, as the German government was concerned about the advance of the Red Army to the borders East Prussia. On April 19, Polish troops drove the troops of the Lithuanian-Belarusian Soviet Republic. By the beginning of October 1919, the Lithuanian army ousted the Red Army from the territory of Lithuania. In July - December, the Lithuanians fought against the White Guard Western Russian Army of General Pavel Bermondt-Avalov, which also included German volunteer detachments, and inflicted a defeat on Radvilishkis in November, and on December 15 they ousted the Western Army from the territory of Lithuania.

On July 12, 1920, a peace treaty was signed between Lithuania and Soviet Russia, according to which Moscow recognized Lithuania's right to Vilnius. This city, occupied in June by the Red Army, after the defeat of the latter near Warsaw, was transferred to the control of the Lithuanian troops at the end of August. In September, fighting began between Polish and Lithuanian troops. On October 7, an armistice agreement was reached in Suwalki through the mediation of the Entente. However, the Lithuanian-Belarusian division of the Polish army under the command of General Lucian Zheligovsky, allegedly out of obedience to the Polish government, broke the resistance of the Lithuanian troops and on October 8 took Vilnius, which was annexed to Poland in 1923. The fighting between the Polish and Lithuanian troops was stopped at the end of November 1920.

The events of 1918-1920 in Lithuania are called the War of Independence, which actually breaks up into three wars: the Lithuanian-Soviet, Lithuanian-Polish and the war against the Western army. Since May 7, 1919, the commander-in-chief of the Lithuanian army was General Silvestras Zhukauskas (Sylvester Zhukovsky), a former major general of the Russian army (before being appointed commander-in-chief, he was the chief of the General Staff of the Lithuanian army). During the War of Independence, the Lithuanian army lost 1444 killed, over 2600 wounded and over 800 missing.

After the accession of Lithuania to Soviet Union in August 1940, the Lithuanian army was reorganized into the 29th territorial rifle corps of the Red Army. The only training ship of the Lithuanian Navy "President Smetona", bought in 1926 from Germany, was transferred to the Soviet Baltic Fleet, where, renamed "Pirmunas" ("Excellent"), then included in the NKVD Marine Border Guard called "Coral", and with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War became part of the Baltic Fleet and was used as a patrol ship and minesweeper. On January 11, 1945, by that time renamed the minesweeper T-33, it was sunk by a German submarine or hit a mine off the island of Aegna. Lithuanian military aviation, which by the summer of 1940 had several dozen vehicles (mainly training and reconnaissance obsolete designs), was abolished. Nine ANBO-41s, three ANBO-51s, and one Gladiator I were transferred to service with the 29th Corps as part of the 29th Corps Aviation Squadron.

On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, almost all Lithuanian officers of the 29th Corps were arrested. With the outbreak of war, out of 16,000 Lithuanians who served in the corps, 14,000 either deserted or, with weapons in their hands, having killed the commanders and commissars of non-Lithuanians, revolted against Soviet power.

The main enemy is determined

The Lithuanian Army was recreated with the restoration of Lithuanian independence in March 1990 and the formation of the Department of National Defense and the first training unit of the armed forces. However, practical measures to create an army followed only after the actual collapse of the USSR in August 1991 and the recognition of the independence of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia by the allied authorities and the government Russian Federation in September. On October 10, 1991, the first Minister of Regional Protection, Audrius Butkevičius, who previously headed the Department of Regional Protection, was appointed. On December 30, 1991, the first Lithuanian military ranks were awarded.

On January 2, 1992, the Ministry of Regional Protection began its activities and the Lithuanian military aviation was recreated. At the same time, the first call for active military service was announced. On September 1, 1992, the Regional Guard School was opened in Vilnius. Lithuanian army officers are also trained in the US, Germany, Poland, other NATO countries and Sweden. On November 1, a flotilla was created Naval Forces Lithuania.

On November 19, 1992, the Supreme Council - the Restorative Seimas proclaimed the re-establishment of the Army of the Republic of Lithuania. Continuing the traditions of the army of the interwar period, many battalions of the modern Lithuanian army were given the names of regiments of the 1920s and 1930s and their symbols. The divisions of the volunteer forces received the names of the partisan districts into which the Lithuanian partisans who fought against the Soviet regime in 1944-1957 were divided.

The Supreme Commander is the President of Lithuania. The operational management of the armed forces is carried out by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces - a professional military man, whose working body is the Joint Staff. The Ministry of Defense (Ministry of Defense of the Territory) carries out the financing and supply of the armed forces.

On March 29, 2004, Lithuania joined NATO. Its armed forces are integrated with the armed forces of other countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. military doctrine Lithuania was accepted on March 10, 2010. It provides for the conduct of military and peacekeeping operations in cooperation with other NATO members and within the framework of missions undertaken by the North Atlantic Alliance. In the event of a situation of collective defense, the Lithuanian armed forces are transferred under the command of NATO. As the only threat to the security of Lithuania, the doctrine considers “unstable states whose documents related to defense and security policy provide for, and military force allows to carry out actions of a military nature, directly or indirectly directed against Lithuania or its allies.” This definition refers primarily to Russia, although no Lithuanian documents directly mention this and our country is not named. In the case of external aggression, it is assumed that "the independent defense of the country and its collective defense together with the allies."

On September 15, 2008, the conscription for urgent military service was cancelled. The last conscripts were transferred to the reserve on July 1, 2009. Since 2009, the recruitment of the armed forces has been carried out exclusively by contract volunteers.

There are 10,640 people in the Lithuanian Armed Forces, including 8,200 in the ground forces, 600 in the navy, 1,200 in aviation, 1,804 in headquarters and services common to all armed forces. 4,600 people are reservists of the ground forces who are in reserve, united in the Volunteer troops for the protection of the region. The male population aged 16 to 49 years, there were 890 thousand people in 2010, of which the number of fit for military service estimated at 669 thousand. Every year, 20,425 men reach the age of 18, at which military service can begin.

Lithuania's military spending is 0.79 percent of GDP. In 2012, they can be valued at $343.65 million at the official exchange rate and at $511.9 billion at purchasing power parity. The lack of financial resources affects the level of equipment of the army with weapons and military equipment and the training of military personnel.

Ground troops

There are 8,200 people, including 3,600 professionals, and 4,600 active reservists from the Volunteer Guards of the Territory. Professionals are divided into one Iron Wolf Brigade (three mechanized infantry battalions and one artillery battalion), three separate motorized infantry battalions, one engineer battalion and one training center.

The ground forces are armed with 10 BRDM-2 armored vehicles supplied by Poland, about 200 American M113A1 and M113A2 armored personnel carriers and Swedish BV 206 A MT armored personnel carriers.

Artillery is represented by 72 105-mm M101 American howitzers provided by Denmark, and 61 120-mm M-43 mortars supplied by Poland.

Anti-tank weapons - 10 American FGM-148 Javelin ATGMs mounted on HMMWV wheeled all-terrain vehicles. There is also a number of FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank systems and 84-mm Swedish anti-tank grenade launchers Carl Gustav.

The air defense systems of the ground forces are represented by the American FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS, 10 of which are installed on MTLB armored personnel carriers, and eight on American M113 armored personnel carriers. There are also a number of "Stingers" in a portable version.

4,600 active reservists from the Volunteer Guards of the Territory are united in six regiments and 36 territorial defense battalions.

The Special Operations Forces consist of one Special Operations Group, which includes the Service (Group) special purpose, one Jaeger battalion and a service (group) of combat divers.

Naval Forces

There are about 600 people. Together with the Latvian and Estonian navies, they form the Baltron Joint Force based in Liepaja, Riga, Ventspils, Tallinn and Klaipeda. The headquarters of the joint forces is located in Tallinn. The Lithuanian Navy consists of a division patrol ships, a division of anti-mine ships and a division of auxiliary vessels.

The fleet has three Danish Standard Flex 300 patrol boats armed with one 76mm cannon and one Norwegian patrol boat Storm with Penguin anti-ship missiles, one 76mm and one 40mm Bofors cannon.

There are also two German minesweepers of the Lindau type (type 331), two British minesweepers Skulvis (of the Hunt type), one Norwegian minelayer of the Vidar type (also used as a control ship).

The Lithuanian Navy is focused primarily on combating the mine threat. There are four auxiliary port vessels of Soviet and Danish production.

Air Force

There are 980 military personnel and 190 civilian personnel. They consist of one air defense battalion. The Air Force is armed with three C-27J Spartan transport aircraft, two L-410 Turbolet transport aircraft and two L-39ZA combat training aircraft. All aircraft of Czechoslovak production. The helicopter fleet consists of nine Mi-8s. There are several Swedish-made RBS-70 MANPADS. Lithuanian pilots have a fairly decent flight time - 120 hours per year.

Commands serving the needs of all armed forces

The Joint Supply Command has 1,070 personnel. It consists of one supply battalion. The Joint Training and Documentation Command has 734 personnel, consists of one training regiment.

Paramilitaries of other departments

The Lithuanian Shooting Union is public organization engaged in preparing young people for military service. It has 9600 people.

The Border Guard of the Ministry of the Interior has 5,000 men. The Coast Guard Service - 540 people, has three Finnish and Swedish-made patrol boats and one British-made Griffon 2000 amphibian.

Lithuanian troops outside the country and foreign allied forces on the territory of Lithuania

There are 236 Lithuanian military personnel in Afghanistan international forces to maintain ISAF security. In the zone of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, within the framework of the OSCE mission, there is one Lithuanian military observer. In Iraq, within the framework of the NATO mission, there are 12 Lithuanian servicemen.

Four F-16 fighter jets from Germany, Holland, Denmark and other NATO countries patrol Lithuanian airspace on a permanent basis as part of the NATO airspace protection program for the Baltic States. In the event of a sudden Russian invasion of Lithuania, other Baltic countries and Poland (although Russia is not directly named in the document, it is obvious that we are talking about it, and not about any aliens), NATO developed a defense plan in early 2010 Eagle Guardian (“Eagle-Defender”), which provides for the transfer to these countries during a threatened period or immediately after the start of aggression of nine divisions of the armies of the United States, Germany, Great Britain and Poland with appropriate air support to the territory of the Baltic States and Poland and the dispatch of warships of the alliance to ports of Poland, Germany and the Baltic countries.

In general, the Lithuanian army is not inferior in combat capability to the armies of other Eastern European countries - NATO members, has the ability to fully ground forces take part in peacekeeping operations alliance and others international structures. At the same time, the Air Force and the Navy are unable to solve the tasks of protecting the Lithuanian territory, and in this respect, Lithuania relies entirely on the help of NATO allies. In the event of an attack by Russia, it is assumed that the Lithuanian army will be able to successfully defend itself for at least a week, before the arrival of reinforcements from other countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, but subject to the provision of air support from the first day of fighting. At the same time, the main hopes are for the Volunteer Guards of the Territory, ready for partisan actions in the event of enemy occupation.