U.S. Army soldiers cross-train with G-36 rifles in Kosovo. U.S. Army photo by SSG Vincent A. King.

VILNIUS, Lithuania, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- The Lithuanian military is procuring additional G-36 rifles and 40mm under-barrel grenade launchers from Germany's Heckler & Koch GmbH.

According to the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense its contract for the weapons -- which will be delivered in 2017 -- is worth nearly $14 million.


The new weapons will be modified to recommendations made by the Lithuanian soldiers. The buttstocks, handguards and sight rails on rifles will be modified and the updated weapon will be called the G-36 KA4M1.

The G-36 is a 5.56x45mm gas-operated assault rifle with a 30-round box magazine or 100-round drum magazine.

The procurement is the latest by Lithuania, which is concerned over Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine and the Baltic region.