VILNIUS, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The Lithuanian newly appointed chief of defense said on Friday that acquisitions of new armored vehicles and artillery systems might be speed-up if the country's increasing defense funding allows.

"I believe that alongside with all capacities development more attention should be paid to the development of military engineering capabilities. This includes both the purchase of equipment and the acquisition of engineering ammunition," Major General Valdemaras Rupsys was quoted as saying by local media.

Currently the Lithuanian Army has started to receive the first out of total 88 infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) the Boxer in what is the country's biggest military procurement in history.

In the next few years, two battalions of the Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf will be equipped with the new IFVs.

It is also planned to buy new artillery systems for re-arming the artillery battalion of Zemaitija Brigade.

"We will have to discuss with the ministry (Ministry of National Defense), review the priorities and, depending on the funding, we will need to speed-up the re-arming," said Rupsys.

Rupsys was appointed as the new chief of defense by the Lithuanian parliament on Thursday. He will succeed the incumbent Chief of Defense Lt. Gen Jonas Vytautas Zukas, whose tenure ends in late July.

Joining in the National Defense System in 1990, Rupsys has been in command of the largest service of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, the Land Force, since 2016.

Lithuania's defense spending will amount to 948 million euros this year, around 2 percent of the country's GDP.

The country's parliamentary parties have agreed earlier to increase defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2030.

Lithuania, a small Baltic country with a population of around 3 million and NATO's Eastern-flank member country, has stepped up its defense capabilities in recent years, citing tensions in the Eastern Europe. Enditem

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