VILNIUS, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Two U.S. fifth generation fighter jets F-35A landed on Thursday at Lithuanian Air Force Base in Zokniai, Siauliai in central Lithuania for a regional air defense exercise.

It's the first time that such fighter jets landed in Lithuania, announced the Lithuanian defense ministry.

The two fighter jets carried out refueling in Lithuania during their training in Operation Rapid Forge, a regional air defense exercise.

"This air defense exercise held for the first time (in our region) sends a strong signal that the U.S. is ready to respond rapidly to changes in security situation and contribute to defense of the Baltic states," Raimundas Karoblis, the defense minister of Lithuania, told news agency BNS.

"We will work with our allies to maintain commitments to NATO's Article 5," the Commander of the U.S. Air Force Contingency Response Group at Ramstein base in Germany, Colonel Jason Terry, told local journalists at the base in Zokniai.

Air defense is the weakest link in Lithuania's defense.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, NATO's Eastern-flank member countries by the Baltic Sea, do not have their own fighter jets and rely on rotating NATO air-policing missions conducted by the allied countries since 2004 when Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia joined NATO.

Last month, Lithuania's new President Gitanas Nauseda asked NATO to strengthen air defense capabilities in Lithuania. Enditem

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