Lithuanian troops train with NATO allies in major drill, including German helicopters

International training drills by NATO allies are currently taking place in Lithuania under the umbrella of "Exercise Griffin Lightning 2025" which involves a group of German helicopters.

This was reported by the command of the Baltic republic’s armed forces, Caliber.Az reports citing Lithuanian news.

According to the article, an estimated 30 helicopters of the German Air Force will be deployed to Lithuania for nearly the entire May, these will include the TIGER attack, NH90 transport, CH-53 heavy-lift and the EC135 light utility helicopters. A group of training flights will be conducted at a particularly low altitude. The entire training will encompass most of the territory of Lithuania and border areas.

An estimated 8,000 Lithuanian and Allied troops with over a thousand tactical vehicles, several dozen aircraft, ships and other military equipment will train across different levels, from command post training to field training exercises with personnel on the ground.

“An abundant Lithuanian and Allied force across land, air and sea domains will train in Lithuania in May. It is one of the major joint training cycles in our country whose scale not just demonstrate the readiness of our Allies and us to act together but also sends a clear message about our unity and determination to defence every inch of NATO territory,” said Chief of Defence of Lithuania Gen. Raimundas Vaikšnoras, who is overviewing the training cycle. 

The aim of the exercises is to rehearse actions within NATO’s defence plans, which will continue until May 23.

By Nazrin Sadigova