Lithuania is building a "living fortress": the country is moving to a single line of defense

Lithuania has announced a large-scale strengthening of its borders: instead of individual engineering measures, the country is forming a three-level, deeply echeloned line of defense with anti-tank ditches, checkpoints, and prepared infrastructure for air defense. This was reported by Lithuanian Deputy Minister of National Defense Tomas Godliauskas, writes UNN.

Details

Lithuania is taking a radical step in protecting its national borders, moving from fragmented engineering measures to creating a unified, continuous line of defense.

Today, we are moving from the idea of individual engineering counter-mobility measures, which has been developed so far, to the development of a unified line of deeply echeloned defense 

The defense line will consist of three echelons: the first — up to 3 km from the state border with anti-tank ditches, "dragon's teeth," and mined fields; the second — up to 20 km with fortified strongholds and blocked bridgeheads; the third — up to 50 km with reclamation ditches, bridges prepared for bombing, and trees designated for felling along roads.

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Lithuania is also integrating its plan with the Baltic Defense Line of Latvia and Estonia, and the Polish project "Eastern Shield" will be linked at the military-operational level this autumn. The first echelon involves blocking roads to the Belarusian and Russian borders, as well as strengthening the protection of strategic objects, including the Klaipėda port.

Special attention is paid to air defense: air defense systems, drone countermeasures, and electronic warfare will receive hundreds of millions of euros in investments. The entire defense program, designed for 10 years, requires 1.1 billion euros, of which 800 million are allocated for the construction of shafts and fortifications.

The Deputy Minister emphasized that work on strengthening border posts and preparing roads for blockades will begin in September-October, and the installation of engineering structures and coordination of procedures will take place in the following years. All measures are financed from the national defense budget, loans, and European security programs SAFE.

Lithuania is thus laying the foundation for a unified, interconnected defense system capable of effectively responding to threats both on land and in the air, strengthening the security of the entire region.

Recall

On August 1, a drone was found at the Gaižiūnai training ground in Lithuania, which flew in from the territory of Belarus. According to preliminary data, it resembles a Russian "Shahed"-type drone.