Norway to donate anti-aircraft missile systems to Lithuania

VILNIUS (AFP) Apr 07, 2004
Norway will donate army short-range anti-aircraft RBS-70 missile systems to strengthen the air defense of Lithuania, which last month became one of seven mainly ex-communist countries to join NATO.

The planned transfer comes after an agreement signed by the Lithuanian and Norwegian defense ministries on Wednesday, the Baltic News Service said.

The missile systems, equipped with radar, launch and control platforms, are able to detect air targets and destroy them at a range of eight kilometers (five miles).

The equipment, worth one million Norvegian krones, was expected to reach Lithuania by May.

The RBS-70 missile systems are manufactured by the Swedish company Saab Bofors Dynamics.

In 2002, Lithuania and the United States signed an agreement on purchase of short-range surface-to-air Stinger missile systems, with the first due to be delivered by early 2006.

In 2001 Lithuania became the first state in Europe to purchase the middle-range anti-tank systems Javelin manufactured in the United States.

WAR.WIRE