According to the Chief of Defence of Lithuania Major General Jonas Vytautas Žukas, the goal of this part of the exercise is to see units of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior and state border guard units acting together: whether they are able to coordinate among themselves in emergency situation, whether staffs functions properly. The exercise is also aimed at identifying and subsequently eliminating possible shortcomings in the cooperation between the Armed Forces and the internal security system.
The highlight of the scenario of this part of the exercise is an operation for elimination of ravage caused by an alleged terrorist attack on a LNG terminal: a sector of pipeline in the territory of the seaport has been allegedly blown up.
According to the exercise scenario, subdivisions of the Ministry of the Interior, i.e., Klaipėda Police Headquarters, State Border Grad Service, and the Public Security Service, call the state of emergency and carry out operations of eliminating the consequences of the terrorist attack with the Lithuanian Armed Forces in a supporting role.
According to the Chief of Defence of Lithuania, joint exercise of all the services of the Lithuanian Armed Forces is a vital element of preparing for various crisis scenarios. "Because it will be us who will have to respond by joint and coordinated action in the territory of Lithuania before NATO allies' backup arrives," Chief of Defence said.
Roughly 500 soldiers from the Lithuanian Grand Duke Butigeids Dragoon Battalion and the National Defence Volunteer Force responded to the fictional terrorist attack of May 6 in Klaipėda. Their conducted the operation in cooperation with officers of the Lithuanian Police, Public Security Service and the Aras Antiterrorist Operations Unit.
Exercise Lightning Strike 2015 concerns a spectrum of threats, from hybrid warfare to terrorist attacks. The facilities used during the exercise include such strategic objects as the LNG terminal, Klaipėda Seaport, Palanga Airport, etc.
As Exercise Lightning Bolt 2015 proceeds, action moves to Kaišiadorių and Švenčionėlių district, Pabradės and Gaižiūnų Training Areas.
Armed incidents of local nature and violations of state border will occur in the district of Švenčionys, Kaišiadorys and Jonava. The Response Forces of the Lithuanian Armed Forces will be used to stabilise the situation and to respond to the armed incidents.
According to the exercise scenario, the President of the Republic of Lithuania issues a decree to activate the Lithuanian Response Force.
The Chief of Defence immediately issues an order to deploy the Response Force on the basis of this Presidential decree and the Chief of the Joint Staff is assigned to be in command of the operation.
According to the scenario, armed groups will bring about unrest and riot in a city and attempt to seize local administrative buildings. Divisions of the Ministry of the Interior are short of capabilities necessary for supressing the unrest so the Response Force of the Lithuanian Armed Forces is deployed and territories for military operations are assigned where military personnel is authorised to use armed force.
The main planned military operations in urban areas will take place on May 9-10.
The exercise organised by the Joint Staff of the Lithuanian Armed Forces involves participants from all the services and commands of the Lithuanian Armed Forces – roughly 3 thousand soldiers are training side by side with roughly 500 personnel of the Ministry of the Interior.
