On April 7th, 2025, Lithuania’s Defence Resources Agency under the Ministry of National Defence, together with the Latvian Ministry of Defence, announced that it had signed a contract with Finnish company Marine Alutech for the purchase of multi-purpose attack boats. The value of the contract for the Lithuanian side is €22 million.
The Lithuanian ministry of defence says that this contract is the second step after the technical agreement was signed in 2024 between Latvia, Lithuania and Finland. Under this contract, Lithuania will acquire two advanced fast multi-role attack boats, which will be equipped with the SPIKE NLOS missile launch system and a remote heavy machine gun control system.
The specific model being purchased was not specified, and it sounds like there will be some development taking place. However, the photo attached to Lithuania’s press release is the Watercat M18 AMC COMBAT SUPPORT SERVICE VESSEL. Other sources say that the future boats will be based on the M18.
The Watercat M18 is already in operation with the Finnish Navy, which has 12 of these vessels. These are powered by two 660 kW Scania diesel engines and feature Rolls-Royce waterjet propulsion. Interestingly, it looks like Lithuania’s Ministry of Defence took the image from Marine Alutech, photoshopped out trees in the background, as well as the Finnish flag. The SPIKE NLOS was also added to the back – a missile launch system from Rafael Advanced Defence Systems.
It looks like this deal has been in the works for quite some time. Back in June 2022, a letter of intent was signed with Finland on the acquisition of two patrol craft.
The defence minister at the time stated:
“Finland understands the necessity of such craft to Lithuania, so the negotiations are going really fast. We are planning the sale-purchase contract to be concluded still this month. The patrol boats would complement the efforts to enhance an all-round defence, fill in the gap of Lithuanian Navy capabilities in the Curonian Lagoon and would build up Lithuania’s coastal surveillance.”
And so, with this quote taking place almost 3 years ago, it would appear that something delayed Lithuania’s plans…
In the recent official press release, Lithuanian Minister of National Defense Dovilė Šakalienė was quoted as saying:
“These new multi-purpose attack boats will significantly strengthen our Naval Forces and ensure a faster response to security challenges in the waters of our region. In addition, this contract is an excellent example of how small countries, by cooperating, can build a stronger and more effective defense, ensuring stability and security in the entire Baltic region,”
These boats will contribute to preventing threats from the Gulf of Finland to the Curonian Lagoon. Due to their special design and propulsion system, the boats will be able to navigate in extremely shallow waters and will allow them to quickly respond to various threats both on water and on land.
The acquisition of the boats for the Lithuanian Navy will contribute to the strengthening of local industrial sectors through industrial cooperation in both Lithuania and Latvia.
We know that Lithuania has ordered 2 for €22 million. However, Latvia has yet to commit to any sort of purchase. The Latvian Ministry of Defense has only signed an agreement to join the initial development phase as part of the cooperation. After its development, the results will be evaluated, and a separate decision of the Latvian Ministry of Defense will be made on the production and purchase of a prototype of the platform.
As the boat is still being developed, there’s not too much else to say with this news. However, we can tell you the SPIKE NLOS (which stands for Non-Line-of-Sight) is a multi-purpose, electro-optical/infrared missile system with the ability to reach ranges up to 32 kilometers. The Israeli-built system comes from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, although the company has teamed up with Lockheed Martin to offer the weapon system to U.S. customers.
Lithuania’s forces already have a relationship with Rafael and are already familiar with Spike as an anti-tank guided missile system. This system has been installed on Lithuania’s Vilkas Infantry Fighting Vehicles.
