Two US Battalions to Lithuania by the End of October — One Heavy, With Abrams, One Engineer, About a Thousand Soldiers for Nine Months
Washington, 23 September 2026
Key points
- Robertas Kaunas, by telephone from the United States after meeting Elbridge Colby, the under secretary of defense for policy: "Two American battalions will arrive in Lithuania at the end of October; the preparations are under way." One is heavy, "which means heavy weaponry is coming too", with Abrams tanks; the other an engineer battalion "which will help the development of our division"
- Strength similar to before, about a thousand, a number he said was not discussed; the tour nine months, as before. He would not say whether the full force is in place at the end of October or begins arriving then
- Kaunas proposed a permanent US base: "This is a new proposal, but given the regional security situation and the cooperation between our countries, I think it is logical to consider such an idea." No decision was taken
- US Army Europe told Stars and Stripes the deployment is part of the rotation announced in August, under which a 1st Infantry Division brigade replaces a brigade ending its tour; the Pentagon had not confirmed the Lithuanian element and no battalion is named
Three months after the last American battalion left Pabradė without a successor, Vilnius has a date, a size and a composition from its own minister, and still nothing in writing from the Pentagon.
The previous rotation, more than a thousand soldiers, left in June after the Pentagon confirmed on 1 May that roughly 5,000 troops would leave Germany and the armoured brigade rotation to Poland, from which the Lithuanian battalion is drawn, was cancelled. On 22 September President Nausėda announced the rotation's return and his adviser said it was already on trains, with no number given. Kaunas supplied the number, the composition and the date the next day, and added that Colby had described Lithuania as a reliable partner that invests in its own security. Lithuania has said it can host up to 1,500. On the wider question of American forces in Europe, Kaunas said decisions on the global review were likely in December and would be discussed in a NATO format.
The base proposal lands on a constitution that bars it. Article 137 prohibits foreign military bases; the Seimas voted 99 to 13 on 22 September to proceed with deleting the article, with 94-vote readings on 6 October and 12 January 2027. The 18 June coalition agreement wrote a permanent US presence in. In Des Moines the same evening, Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, gave Germany's tank brigade in Lithuania as his example of what a more European alliance looks like.
A rotation is a decision the Pentagon can reverse without closing anything, and the one thing not said on Wednesday is whether these two battalions sit inside the posture review's baseline or are an input to it. At least four option sets go to Hegseth on 6 November, with completion due in December, the month Kaunas expects decisions; NBC's reported options run to 25,000 to 40,000 troops out of Europe. Two battalions at the previous strength of about a thousand are not two full battalions, if that is the strength. The comparator is the German brigade Whitaker cited: permanent, at full strength in 2027, under its own government's law. The American presence Kaunas has asked for is the kind his own constitution will not allow before January. Signal No. 152 led with the day's state change and the arithmetic.
Related · US posture in Europe and Lithuania
- Pentagon Options Would Withdraw 25,000 to 40,000 US Troops From Europe — 76,000 Floor Per Fiscal 2026 Funds
- Pentagon Publishes Europe Posture Review Terms of Reference — Four Option Sets to Hegseth by 6 November
- Germany Forms Permanent NATO Armoured Brigade in Lithuania: 2,000 Troops, eFP Integration by 2026
- Lithuania Moves to Strip Its Constitutional Ban on Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Military Bases
