The plant will allow Lithuania to assemble and maintain heavy military equipment domestically. The Ministry of National Defence said this would strengthen supply-chain resilience, reduce dependence on external suppliers and enable a faster response to defence needs.
“This factory is an important step in strengthening Lithuania’s defence capabilities and will contribute to the shared goal of ensuring the safety of our citizens,” said Minister of National Defence Robertas Kaunas. “Heavy military equipment serves for decades, so it is important not only to assemble it, but also to maintain it.”
Kaunas said both assembly and maintenance would take place in Lithuania. He described the plant as the result of cooperation between businesses and between Lithuania and Germany.
Lithuania Defense Services, a German military equipment servicing company, is building the facility. The Lithuanian government approved the project in March.
Additional special investment conditions apply to the project to support faster and more efficient implementation. The defence ministry said the facility would strengthen cooperation with NATO allies and Lithuania’s long-term resilience.
Economy and Innovation Minister Edvinas Grikšas said the plant would deepen ties with German defence businesses. He also linked the project to greater Lithuanian participation in European defence initiatives.
“This large project of strategic importance, which is being implemented particularly quickly, is one of the most important foreign investments in the development of Lithuania’s defence industry,” Grikšas said. “This shows that we are purposefully creating the conditions for strategic investments to establish themselves in Lithuania, grow and create high-value-added jobs.”
Grikšas buried a symbolic capsule at the site during a ceremony attended by President Gitanas Nausėda and Energy Minister Lukas Savickas. Parliamentary National Security and Defence Committee Chairman Rimantas Sinkevičius and representatives of industry, the armed forces and the public sector also attended.
