Lithuania is busy digging up a remote forest to host German troops.

Thudding artillery and tank gunfire under the gaze of swooping attack helicopters, all set to a soundtrack of 1980’s heavy rock band Van Halen: This is what Germany’s Bundeswehr looks like in 2024.

After taking the landmark decision to post 5,000 soldiers to Lithuania by 2027 — Berlin’s first full-time foreign troop deployment since World War 2 — Germany closed out its part of last month’s NATO Steadfast Defender exercises with war games only 15 kilometers from the border with Russian ally Belarus.

A climatic 90-minute live fire battle was staged for lawmakers, diplomats and local military chiefs at the Pabradė training grounds.