Democratic control of armed forces is one of the founding constitutional principles of Lithuanian defence establishment. The President, the Government, the Defence Minister and the Commander of the Armed Forces are responsible to Parliament for the management and command of the armed forces. The Parliament also determines the defence budget. National defence policy and defence spending are public knowledge. Lithuania's Armes Forces consist of the Army, the Air Force, the Navy and the Voluntary National Defence Service (VNDS) totalling c. 8000 full-time personnel. The Army consists of a Motorized Infantry Brigade, including six battalions, a Jaeger battalion, an Engineers' battalion and a Commandant battalion. Its total personnel strength is 4000. The Air Force consists of 32 transport, one training aircraft and 8 helicopters; an air surveillance centre and air surveillance companies stationed at three air bases. Its personnel strength is currently 650. The Navy consists of a flotilla with two frigates and five minor vessels, a sea surveillance company and a coastal defence battalion. The Navy's personnel strength is about 800. The VNDS is organized into ten district territorial defence units and counts 1900 active duty personnel and 9000 volunteers.

Russian troops withdrew from Lithuanian territory in August 1993, one year earlier than from Germany, Estonia and Latvia. In January 1994, Lithuania officially declared its determination to seek membership of NATO. On implementation of this, Lithuania is structuring its Armed Forces according to the principles adopted in Western democratic countries, taking an active part in the Partnership for Peace and its Planning and Review Process and subsequently participating with units in UNPROFOR, IFOR and SFOR missions in the former Yugoslavia.

The MND has signed bilateral Co-operation Agreements with the defence ministries of eight NATO countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the USA. Agreements are also signed with Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Poland. Close relations have been developed with Canada, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and other countries.

The MND is a participant in multinational co-operation projects such as a Baltic peace-keeping battalion, the Baltic naval squadron and a Baltic regional air surveillance network. Each of these projects, involves a number of supporting NATO and Partner Nations. The MND has also started work towards the establishment of a Lithuanian-Polish peacekeeping forces.