Lithuania conducts first NASAMS live firing
The Lithuanian Air Force conducted its first live firing of NASAMS during Exercise ‘Silver Arrow 2023' held in Norway. (Norwegian Armed Forces)
The Lithuanian Air Force (LAF) conducted its first live firing of the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) III medium-range air-defence system during Exercise ‘Silver Arrow 2023', the Norwegian Armed Forces announced on their website on 15 September. The firing took place at the Nordmela missile firing range on Andøya in Nordland, Norway, and was supported by Ørland airbase's air-defence battalion, which verified the training the LAF conducted in Lithuania.
During the exercise, the Norwegian air-defence battalion and the LAF practised deploying and integrating the two countries' NASAMS III and operating together.
The Norwegian Armed Forces reported that the first Lithuanian live firing of NASAMS hit the target drone.
The LAF's Air Defence Battalion received NASAMS III in 2020. The systems were placed on standby during the NATO leaders' meeting in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on 11–12 July, along with German Patriot and Spanish NASAMS air-defence systems.
