Lithuania has planned to exercise an option to acquire more Vilkas fighting vehicles, according to Vice Minister of National Defence Vilius Semeska.
According to Vice Minister, Lithuania plans to buy 120 additional Vilkas (Wolf) infantry fighting vehicles.
“Preparation for the negotiations began early this year and today we are able to discuss concrete amounts, value and deadlines of a potential order. It is a rational decision, and effective in terms of defense budget, to carry on with the same infantry fighting vehicle platform,” says V. Semeška.
Deliveries would take place between 2023 and 2024, the ministry said in a statement. Part of them will be armed with a 30 mm cannon, and the other part – with a 12.7 mm machine gun.
According to Defense News, in 2016, Lithuania signed a deal for 88 infantry fighting vehicles with the German-Dutch consortium Artec, which is made up of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, Rheinmetall Landsysteme and Rheinmetall Defence Nederland B.V. The contract was worth €385.6 million (U.S. $417.7 million).
The Vilkas is a variant of the Boxer mechanized infantry vehicle developed by an ARTEC international consortium.
The fighting vehicle is an eight-wheeled multirole vehicle that includes a Samson Mk II remote controlled weapon station, a Spike LR anti-tank missile system, a 7.62mm machine gun and a Bushmaster Mk44S 30mm chain gun.
