Germany's Army General Warns of Equipment Gaps Due to Brigade's Deployment in Lithuania

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The German army may face equipment gaps, and its equipage may drop to 55% from 60% due to the deployment of a German brigade in Lithuania, Lt. Gen. Alfons Mais, the inspector of the German army and the chief of the German Army Headquarters at Strausberg in Brandenburg, said Tuesday.

Mais voiced his concerns about the consequences of stationing the brigade in Lithuania in a letter addressed to German Defense Chief Gen. Carsten Breuer and obtained by German media. The Bundeswehr is currently only 60% equipped, "at the limit of what is acceptable," lacking everything from "A" to "Z," "from artillery pieces to raincoats."

"The establishment of a new major brigade without additional investment would reduce this number to 55%," Mais is quoted as saying in the letter.

Last week, Lithuanian National Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas and his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, in Vilnius signed an action plan for the deployment of a Bundeswehr brigade in Lithuania by 2027, with up to 5,000 German troops with their families arriving in Lithuania.

The Lithuanian Defense Ministry said Germany plans to deploy a heavy brigade with three maneuver battalions and the necessary combat support and supply units in Lithuania.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in early November that Berlin is responding to the current security situation by the long-term deployment of a Bundeswehr brigade in Lithuania and is willing to have more large military units in high readiness.