US delays HIMARS delivery to Lithuania, army chief says

Lithuanian Army Commander Raimundas Vaikšnoras has acknowledged that the United States is late delivering HIMARS rocket artillery systems to Lithuania, LRT reported.

Vaikšnoras said the delay was linked to the US side, probably its defence industry, but he did not specify how long it would last. He added that Lithuanian crews had already completed training and live-fire exercises and were waiting for the systems to arrive.

“I would like to stress to the public not to be overly concerned, because there are agreements allowing us to temporarily bring identical systems to Lithuania while delivery is delayed for various reasons. They could cover certain capability gaps,” Vaikšnoras said in an interview with LRT television on Thursday.

According to the army chief, Lithuania has agreed with the Michigan National Guard on the possible temporary deployment of such systems. “They have the same systems and can come to our exercises,” he said.

The US had previously been expected to deliver the HIMARS systems to Lithuania by the end of this year.

Lithuania signed a 495 million dollar contract with the United States at the end of 2022 to acquire eight HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems. In April this year, it signed an amendment worth about 280 million dollars for a second HIMARS battery. The contract is being implemented by US company Lockheed Martin.

The first battery was expected to arrive in Lithuania this year, with the HIMARS systems planned to reach full combat capability by 2027. Over the past three years, Lithuania has bought about 2 billion euros worth of weapons and equipment from the United States.