On September 24-25 soldiers of Lithuania and the United States will for the first time together train shooting at airborne targets over the Baltic Sea at a combined artillery live-fire exercise. Over 100 members of the Lithuanian Land Force and the 4th Battalion, 319th Field Artillery (105-mm howitzer) Regiment (4-319 AFAR) of the 173rd Airborne Brigade will deliver artillery fire from firing positions in Brigadier General Povilas Plechavičius Training Range in Kairiai (Klaipėdos distr.).
The participants of the exercise will hone their shooting and fire control skills with artillery guns, the M50 and the M119 105-mm howitzer weapon systems, in the context of defensive operations.
The exercise participants will train fire control from forward fire observer positions along the coastline and aboard the patrol ship LNS DZŪKAS of the Lithuanian Navy.
The organisers of the exercise assert that artillery shells will travel at the height of approximately 2 kilometres without emitting any sound or materials, thus harm will not be caused neither to people, nor environment.
The artillery shells will overfly the Curonian Lagoon, the Curonian Spit, and drop into the Baltic Sea roughly 4 kilometres offshore.
Patrol vessel LNS DZŪKAS and mine countermeasures ship LNS SŪDUVIS of the Lithuanian Navy will ensure maritime safety throughout the exercise.
The same type of artillery equipment, the M50 and the M119 105-mm howitzers, were used by Lithuanian and U.S. soldiers at the international live-fire exercise Fire Thunder 2014 of artillery and mortar units on September 8-19 at Pabradės Training Range.
The exercise is organised by the Lithuanian Grand Duke Butigeidis Dragoon Battalion of the Lithuanian Land Force.
Lithuanian military to attend the exercise along with the U.S. allies will come from King Mindaugas Hussar, the Grand Duchess Birutė and the General Romualdas Giedraitis Artillery Battalions.
For the Media:
Media representatives willing to observe the live-fire exercise on September 25 are invited to register before 21:000, September 24 at: email: jurga.vaskeviciene@mil.lt, or mobile phone no: 00370 612 23075, 00370 682 40377 (Jurga Vaškevičienė).
PROGRAMME FOR THE MEDIA:
09:10 - 09:20 Arrival of media representatives to the Second Smiltynė Ferry Terminal (Nemuno str. 8, Klaipėda)
09:20 - 10:15 Going to the exercise location at theSecond Radiolocation Post in Juodkrantė
10:15 - 10:25 Presentation of the exercise
10:25 - 10:35 Going to the forward observers team positions
10:35 - 11:10 Live-fire from the M50 and the M119 105-mm howitzers
11:10 - 12:10 Going to Brigadier General Povilas Plechavičius Training Range, Klaipėda district municipality.
12:10 - 12:30 Ugnies pozicijų apžiūrėjimas ir šaudymas iš 105 mm haubicų M50 ir M119A2
12:30 - 13:00 Media opportunity
13:00 - 13:10 Departure
