April 7th, 1936:
The Special Committee on Military Affairs, after some debate and perliminary studies from the air, naval and army general staffs has placed a inital report before the Seimas for consideration. Several points have been released through parlimentary sources to reporters.
1) The establishment of a combined services education academy is essential to military development of Lithuania, and the smooth intergration of the various armed services into a coherent whole. Further the administative and executive powers of the Lithuanian Defense minister, who is also the military commander-in-chief should be applified to further this end. A Joint Chiefs of Staff committee must be established to assist the supreme military commander-in-chief, and cut down on both unnessary red tape, and inter service squabblings.
2) The question of small-arms, has been decided in favour of 7.92-mm Mauser, all competing cartridges of 7.62-mm, .303, etc are to be eleminated from Lithuanian military, police and security troops arsenals over the next five years. All carbines, rifles, light and medium machine-guns will chamber the 7.92-mm as well. The 12.7/13-mm cartridge is being considered for the use of heavy machine-gun equipements from now on. Additionally 9-mm Parabellum will be the offical cartridge for all service pistols and sub-machine-guns.
3) The question of artillery has been a vexing one, given the assortment of British, Russian, French and Austro-German sources that have to date supplied, the Lithuanian army in both field, heavy and anti-aircraft artillery. A final decision has been decided regarding the heavier field and heavy artillery, for Lithuanian army use: observation of the use of Russian Federation 122-mm and 152-mm gun-howitzers, gave much cause for thought during the Polish Intervention. Their high rate of fire and destructive shell weight played a critical part during the artillery battles that occured in and around Vilnius. Henceforth, the 122-mm and 152-mm type weapons will be the standard for the Lithuanian artillery units at divisional, corps and reserve level. Arguments concerning 75-mm or 76.2-mm weapons are still ongoing for light field artillery equipements. Anti-aircraft artillery units will retain their mix of Madsen 20-mm autocannons, and vickers 75-mm cannons for the immediate future, but weapons of 37-mm and 88-mm will be soon be ordered to equip new units and existing static installations. Arguments over army heavy artillery are ongoing, particularly over weather a 203-mm or 210-mm weapon could be most effective, in the interim, 220-mm heavy howitzers (also called heavy mortars) captured by Russian and Lithuanian units during the Polish Intervention, will be used to equipe, an army reserve heavy artillery battalion.