Lithuania to Become Second Largest CAESAR Mk II Howitzer User With New €250 Million Contract.

Lithuania has signed a 252 million euro contract with KNDS France for a second batch of CAESAR Mk II 155 mm wheeled howitzers, expanding a program first launched in 2022. The move strengthens long-range firepower on NATO’s northeastern flank as Vilnius prepares for faster, more mobile responses to Russian and Belarusian pressure.

On December 10, 2025, Lithuania’s Ministry of National Defence confirmed that Vilnius has secured a second CAESAR Mk II artillery package worth roughly 252 million euros, a deal that includes 12 million euros for industrial cooperation inside the country. While the new release did not specify the number of howitzers, officials noted that Lithuania will surpass Belgium’s 28 guns once both tranches are delivered, making it the second largest CAESAR Mk II operator after France. The agreement builds on Lithuania’s 2022 commitment to the CAESAR New Generation program and signals a continued shift toward highly mobile, long-range precision fires across the Baltic region.
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The CAESAR Mk II is a 155 mm 52 caliber wheeled howitzer combining high mobility with long range precision fire, capable of striking targets beyond 50 kilometers while rapidly relocating to evade counter battery threats (Picture source: Lithuanian MoD).

This new contract builds on the 2022 agreement under which Vilnius joined the CAESAR New Generation program and ordered 18 CAESAR Mk II guns, with deliveries due by 2027. The December 2025 release does not state how many howitzers are included in the second batch, but by overtaking Belgium’s 28 CAESAR Mk II on order, Lithuania is certain to field at least 29 systems once both tranches are delivered.

The CAESAR Mk II is a significant leap over the combat-proven first generation. It retains the 155 mm 52 caliber gun with 18 rounds on board and a maximum range of about 40 kilometers with standard ERFB ammunition, extending beyond 50 kilometers with rocket-assisted or VLAP projectiles and reaching roughly 55 kilometers with very long-range rounds. It is compatible with precision munitions such as Excalibur and Nexter’s KATANA guided shells, giving Lithuania genuine deep precision strike options.

The gun is mounted on a 6x6 truck chassis of about 26.7 tons, powered by a 460-horsepower diesel engine that nearly doubles the output of the original CAESAR and allows road speeds up to 80 to 100 kilometers per hour with a range of around 600 kilometers. The armored cabin offers STANAG Level 2 ballistic and mine protection, while a digital fire control system, inertial navigation, muzzle velocity radar, and optional electronic warfare protection bring the platform into the fully networked era of artillery.

For the Lithuanian Army, which already operates heavy tracked PzH 2000 howitzers, the CAESAR Mk II adds a fast, strategically deployable gun that can self-deploy along the road network from central Lithuania to the borders with Kaliningrad or Belarus without heavy transporters. Shoot and scoot times measured in well under a minute, combined with long-range and precision, are exactly the attributes needed to survive Russian counter-battery radars while still massing fires over the Suwalki corridor and other likely avenues of approach.

The announcement highlights that the package includes training tools, simulators, spares, and a local industrial footprint. KNDS France will invest 12 million euros in building and equipping repair workshops in Lithuania, while the project is folded into the EU SAFE investment framework. From 2027, Lithuania’s domestic 155 mm ammunition production is planned to be fully compatible with CAESAR, tying long-range fires to national industrial resilience.

CAESAR is already one of NATO’s reference wheeled howitzers. France and Belgium currently field the CAESAR Mk II, and Lithuania is set to join them as a major operator when its ordered systems enter service, while the broader CAESAR family is in service or on order with Denmark, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Thailand, Morocco, and Ukraine, among others. This growing user community matters for Lithuania, which will plug into a shared ecosystem of training, tactics, and future upgrades.

Compared with its main Western competitors, CAESAR Mk II trades heavy armor for agility. Germany’s PzH 2000, Poland’s Krab, and South Korea’s K9 all sit in the 47 to 56 ton class, with similar 155 mm 52 caliber guns and ranges above 50 kilometers with advanced munitions, but they are tracked, more expensive to run, and slower to deploy on roads. Sweden’s Archer offers automation comparable to or better than CAESAR, yet in European numbers, it remains far less common. Lithuania’s choice clearly favors a gun that can disperse rapidly, move far, and still deliver high-end NATO standard firepower.

Lithuania shares borders with both Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave and Belarus, and the Suwalki Gap remains widely described as NATO’s Achilles heel on the eastern flank. Vilnius has boosted defense spending to about 3 percent of GDP already and plans to reach 5 to 6 percent later in the decade, explicitly to deter Russian aggression. In that context, a larger, mobile CAESAR fleet is not a prestige buy but a core tool to generate rapid, precise, long-range fires in any crisis along the border with Russia and Belarus, whether in classic artillery duels or in response to the hybrid threats that Lithuania is already facing. By putting itself behind France as a leading CAESAR Mk II operator, Lithuania is betting that highly mobile, precision-guided artillery will be one of the decisive capabilities in any future high-intensity fight in the Baltics.