At a Government Council meeting on Friday 18 September 2015, the Council endorsed the participation of the Luxembourg Army in the operational deployment in Lithuania as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato)'s Readiness Action Plan (RAP).
The RAP was originally established, following events in Ukraine, at a Wales summit in September 2014, as a means of reassuring Allies located east of NATO who feel their security interests are being threatened. It provides for a continued presence of 28 allied forces, on rotation, in Allied territories at their request.
46 servicemen and women will join a Belgian military contingent to be deployed in Lithuania from 28 September to 1 November 2015, with the Luxembourg contingent to include a Belgian arms tactics unit. The latter will train with both a Luxembourg and Lithuanian military detachment on a wide range of operations, with interoperability of forces cited by the Luxembourg government as a key to improving NATO's responsiveness.
The Luxembourg detachment will participate onsite, alongside the Belgian contingent, in manoeuvres and exercises which will allow the deployment and use of PRV (protected reconnaissance vehicles) and UAV drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) of the Luxembourg Army.
Photo by Sarah Graham (Luxembourg Army at 2015 National Day parade)
