Estonia to decide long-range air defense purchase in budget talks

Estonia’s government plans to decide in September how many long-range air defense systems to buy and from which supplier, Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told ERR. It remains unclear whether the purchase of systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles will cost less or more than one billion euros.

The systems would supplement the medium-range IRIS-T air defense system that has already arrived in Estonia. They would protect strategic targets such as airports, ports and military command centers, whose destruction could significantly weaken Estonia’s and its allies’ defense capabilities.

The State Defence Investment Centre has completed an extensive market survey, Pevkur said. Based on the survey, the Cabinet is expected to discuss the possible supplier and scale of the purchase during budget negotiations in about a month.

“The State Defence Investment Centre is still clarifying some details with the companies. At the same time, we are putting together a Cabinet memorandum. The aim would be to make a principal decision in the Cabinet within one or two months, after which the State Defence Investment Centre could, if necessary, begin contract negotiations,” Pevkur said.

ERR reported earlier this year that Estonia was considering the US Patriot system, Israel’s David’s Sling and the French-Italian SAMP/T system. Offers have been received from four or five companies in total. Pevkur said some companies could deliver an air defense system within two or three years, while others would need eight or nine years.

The minister said the offers were difficult to compare because some companies were proposing systems that were still in development and not yet in production. The government must now determine which systems can realistically proceed to detailed price and contract negotiations.

Pevkur said companies’ ability to offer Estonia long-range air defense systems had also been affected by the US-Iran war. He said US-made systems were particularly difficult to obtain because they were being actively used in Ukraine, where ammunition supplies were also under the greatest pressure.