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The Estonian government on Thursday set a cap of 43,700 posts for wartime posts with military ranks in the defense forces, the Ministry of Defense said.
Wartime composition of Estonian defense forces increased to 43,700 positions
According to the current national defense development plan, the wartime structure includes 26,700 fighters. The new personnel cap is 43,700 fighters. Scaling up involves several important components. First, territorial defense will be doubled by 10,500 fighters. Secondly, an additional reserve of 4,000 fighters will be included in the upper limit of the wartime composition, which will be needed for the defense of Estonia in order to supplement the personnel of the units and restore their combat readiness.
The third important component results from the strengthening of Estonia's defense capability, as positions related to indirect fire and air defense will be added, for example.
«From the point of view of national defense, it is very important how many wartime posts Estonia has. The government established a new upper limit, which is 43,700. The main increase will come from increasing territorial defense -- more than 10,000 reservists will be assigned to territorial defense. Now it is necessary to ensure the readiness and constant training of this formation, to be ready to guarantee the preservation of Estonian freedom against any threat,» Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said.
«In order to increase readiness, the defense forces and the Kaitseliit (Defense League) volunteer corps are organizing the large-scale exercise Ussisonad (Snake Tongue) this fall. During this, these reservists assigned to territorial defense will receive additional training,» Pevkur added.
Wartime formations can only be called after mobilization has been announced. Thus, the upper limit of the wartime composition also determines the extent of the force the commander of the defense forces will have at his disposal upon the declaration of a state of war without waiting for further orders from the government.
The wartime composition is prepared with conscript and reservist service.