Ukraine, Lithuania strike deal on joint weapons production: what's at stake

Espreso will tell about what such cooperation could be like and how Lithuania can help Ukraine on the front.

As noted by Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal, the signed letter creates new opportunities for launching joint ventures, developing Ukrainian companies in Lithuania, and exchanging technologies.

So far, neither the ministry nor its head have provided more details. However, it should be noted that back in July 2024, former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and former National Defense Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas signed a Memorandum of Understanding and cooperation in the field of defense industry. It already envisioned joint production of UAVs and their components, ammunition and components, electronic warfare systems, and development of advanced technologies. In addition, within the framework of these agreements, Lithuania would invest 20 million euros in Ukraine, half of which was already included in one of the tranches.

About how cooperation can take place and what we will get from it, Mykhailo Samus, director of the New Geopolitics Research Network platform and co-founder of the Defense Information Consortium, told Espreso in a comment. The expert noted that there could be several options.

"We work with different countries and formats, including regarding the development of Ukrainian technologies. One of these is the Danish model, when a country invests in Ukrainian production. Currently, Lithuania also helps financially, and they can also inject funds by creating enterprises on their own and Ukrainian territory. The latter can become an advantage for both us and them, as it concerns scaling the production of drones and other weapons," the researcher explained.

Along with this, he emphasized that currently Ukraine is a leader in the field of long-range drones, and therefore, most likely, our technologies will be used at such enterprises.

"Therefore, even if Lithuania has some UAV models, they will be refined according to Ukrainian experience. After all, you can draw and design a lot of them, but until they are tested on the battlefield, you cannot claim any effectiveness," added Mykhailo Samus.

Another question is whether Ukraine will be able to export such products abroad. And there is a problem with this, as currently such actions with produced weapons are prohibited.

"This is about a political decision. We have the position of defense industry representatives who claim that it is necessary to allow the export of their products that will not be needed by the Defense Forces. This is needed to earn financial resources and reinvest these funds in weapons we already need," the expert noted.

What is known about Lithuania's military-industrial complex

As of today, the active composition of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, according to various versions, numbers from 17 to 20 thousand military personnel, but this figure is planned to be significantly increased by planning to introduce mandatory military service.

As for the military-industrial complex, according to the Lithuanian publication Delfi, at the beginning of 2024-2025, the country had 79 companies working in the defense sector, as well as 6 educational or research institutions. The approximate turnover of these companies is about $790 million. However, this figure, like the number of companies in general, continues to grow.

In general, over a short period since 2018, Lithuania has rapidly increased capacity in the military-industrial complex, where both allied countries and private giants like Rheinmetall invest. The latter, by the way, invested 180 million euros in a factory for the production of 155 mm artillery shells, which will start operating by 2026.

• The Kalashnikov assault rifle, a Soviet series of automatic carbines, was the most widespread small arms not only in Ukraine, but also in the world. However, today they are called outdated, and the close connection of this weapon with the aggressor country forced Ukraine to look for an alternative. It became the CZ Bren 2 rifle, which received a symbolic name in Ukraine - Sich.