VILNIUS, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- On Friday, the Lithuanian armed forces received the first shipment of German manufactured infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) Boxer as part of a 386 million euros (454.5 million U.S. dollars) deal.
According to the Lithuanian defense ministry, the army received two training IFVs. German produced IFVs in Lithuania will be renamed Vilkas, or "the wolf" in Lithuanian.
"As soon as this year, they will be used for developing skills of Lithuanian future Vilkas IFV operators," said the ministry in a statement.
Last year, Lithuania ordered 88 IFVs in total from German consortium Artec armed with 30 mm cannons produced by Israeli company Rafael.
Lithuania's efforts to step up defense capabilities with IFVs come amid increased security tensions in the Eastern Europe. Lithuania, a small Baltic State with population of less than 3 million, is NATO's eastern-flank member country.
The first Vilkas combat version IFVs are expected to be delivered in early 2019, with the rest to be shipped by 2021, said the ministry.
