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2025 EFDL Missile Defender of the Year

September 30, 2025
Photo Credit: Lithuanian Air Force Air Defence Battalion

Dear Members and Friends,  

On September 23, 2025—the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Lithuanian Air Force’s Air Defense Battalion and the 90th anniversary of the creation of the air defense branch within the Lithuanian Armed Forces—MDAA held the inaugural Eastern Flank Deterrence Line (EFDL) Missile Defender of the Year event in Kaunas, Lithuania with the Lithuanian Air Force. 

The first MDAA Missile Defender of the Year (DOY) Award ceremony was held in January 2011 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the first operational Patriot missile intercept on January 18, 1991. Since then, MDAA has held 83 total Defender of the Year Award ceremonies and honored 1,028 Awardees from 25 different nations, including Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Events have been hosted by nine countries: Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and now Lithuania. 

Any Data, Any Nation, Any Sensor, Any Shooter on the Eastern Flank Deterrence Line. It starts here with winners and champions and it builds exponentially to become an invincible winning team. 

We are honored to present our 2025 EFDL Missile Defenders of the Year. 

Wing Sergeant Thomas Meyer 

Norway – Platoon Sergeant, Fires Platoon, BTY 52M, AMD BN Ørland at 132nd Air Wing 

Captain Artis Treulands 

Latvia – Air Force Air Defence Battalion SHORAD Battery Commander 

Captain Manuel Rosillo Rangel 

Spain – Staff and Services Battery Commander & Logistic & Personnel Chief of the Spanish NATO NASAMS Ground-Based Air Defense Task Force 

Major Peeter Päär 

Estonia – Chief of Staff of the Estonian Division, 1st Infantry Brigade Air Defense Battalion 

Received on his behalf by Toomas Lents 

Captain Thomas Palaty

Canada – Troop Commander of the RBS-70

Senior Sergeant Virginijus Rimkus

Lithuania – Deputy Commander of the Communications Platoon in the Headquarters and Support Battery

Winners Associate with Winners to Win! 

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MDAA’s mission is to make the world safer by advocating for the development and deployment of missile defense systems to defend the United States, its armed forces, and its allies against missile threats.

MDAA is the only organization in existence whose primary mission is to educate the American public about missile defense issues and to recruit, organize, and mobilize proponents to advocate for the critical need of missile defense. We are a non-partisan membership-based and membership-funded organization that does not advocate on behalf of any specific system, technology, architecture or entity.

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