BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 26. Minister of Economy and Innovation Lukas Savickas, together with partner institutions, has signed an agreement to establish the “Vytis” Defense and Security Innovation, Testing, and Certification Center, Trend reports.
According to information, the facility, to be located in Kaunas, is expected to begin operations in just over two years, with planned investments of up to 20 million euros
Minister Savickas emphasized that the new center will provide Lithuanian companies and researchers with modern infrastructure to design, test, and implement advanced defense and security technologies.
The “Vytis” Center will serve as a strategic hub where businesses, academia, and state institutions cooperate in developing, testing, and certifying both defense and dual-use technologies.
The project is led by a consortium that includes the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, Tech-Park Kaunas (the project initiator and coordinator), the Innovation Agency, the Inland Waterways Authority, Vytautas Magnus University, the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, and the Lithuanian Energy Institute.
Together, these organizations will pool expertise and resources to establish a state-of-the-art innovation infrastructure.
The center will be designed to support companies of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises, and will specialize in drone systems for air and water, autonomous threat detection, small reconnaissance satellites, military communications, and mobile energy storage and backup power systems.
Laboratories, engineering workshops, and dedicated testing environments will be set up to allow technologies to be tested on land, in water, and in the air. The center will also provide certification services for defense and security products.
Investment in the “Vytis” infrastructure and innovation support services is projected at 20 million euros. In addition, the Ministry of Economy and Innovation and its partners are developing a broader “Vytis” initiative worth more than 300 million euros in subsidies, loans, and capital investments to strengthen defense and security innovation in Lithuania.
This initiative will cover the entire innovation cycle – from idea to export – and leverage Lithuania’s strengths in areas such as photonics and lasers, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, autonomous systems, advanced materials, and energy solutions.
Additional measures will be introduced from 2026, including more than 34 million euros to expand company capacities and 6 million euros to support partnerships that transform prototypes into mature technological solutions.
Planned to open in 2028, the “Vytis” Center in Kaunas will become a comprehensive hub for experimentation, prototyping, and testing, supporting startups, small and medium-sized enterprises, and large corporations alike.