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.