LITHUANIAN RESPONSE TO NIGHT VISION DEVICES ROADMAP

C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 000498 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/NB E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2015 TAGS: MASS ETTC MARR PREL LH SUBJECT: LITHUANIAN RESPONSE TO NIGHT VISION DEVICES ROADMAP REF: SECSTATE 80617 Classified By: Political/Economic Officer Alexander Titolo for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) (C) We delivered reftel points regarding Night Vision Devices on May 6 to Gediminas Varvuolis, Head of the MFA's NATO Division, Alvydas Kunigelis, Acting Director of the MOD's Department of International Relations, and LTC Gintautas Zinkevicius, Commander of the Lithuanian-led PRT deploying to Chaghcharan, Afghanistan. Zinkevicius said that he hopes to move to the "smartest technology" in the future, but that for the time being the 1250 FOM NVD's that Lithuanian PRT members plan to use, but have still not formally requested, are "smart enough." Zinkevicius and Varvuolis expressed satisfaction in having a defined nine-month timetable and clear roadmap to follow in order to demonstrate their ability to handle the more sophisticated technology responsibly. Mull