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As part of the rapid development of Estonia's military defense capability, the acquisition of large quantities of ammunition continued in 2023, and about a hundred truckloads of ammunition in total have arrived in Estonia since the start of the year, Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur said at a press conference on Monday.
«The rapid development of Estonia's national defense is inevitable due to the difficult security situation arising from Russia's war of aggression. For the first time ever, the Estonian taxpayer entrusted over a billion euros to military national defense this year, more than half of which we directed to procurements directly aimed at increasing our defense capability,» Pevkur said.
Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Estonia has made decisions on the basis of which we will invest twice as much in ammunition stocks as we have done during the whole time since regaining our independence, he said.
In the next four years, about a quarter of Estonia's defense budget will be spent on munitions and significant ammunition storage capacities are to be built.
«It's difficult to show this at a parade, but its impact on our defense capability is crucial,» Pevkur said.
The most significant contracts signed this year include the contract for the acquisition of the Iris-T medium-range air defense system, loitering airborne munitions, and large-scale procurements of wheeled armored vehicles and trucks. In addition to various batches of munitions, six more units of K9 self-propelled artillery and naval mines enhancing the capability of our Navy arrived in Estonia this year. In the near future, anti-ship missile systems are to be delivered that will increase Estonia's long-range precision-guided missile assault capabilities.
The wartime composition of the Estonian defense forces has increased to 43,700 personnel, one of the important elements of which is the doubling of the territorial defense force to 20,000. A six-week exercise in territorial defense for reservists covering the whole of Estonia, titled Ussisonad (Parseltongue) and held from August to October, was organized for this purpose. In May, the Kevadtorm (Spring Storm) 2023 exercise took place, in which nearly 14,000 conscripts, reservists, active duty personnel, Kaitseliit (Defense League) volunteers and allied soldiers from 11 countries took part.
«Estonia's independent defense capability is supported by our membership in NATO and the presence of NATO allies in Estonia,» Pevkur said.
«We have signed a 10-year cooperation agreement with the UK, the lead nation of the NATO battle group in Estonia, France has made its presence in Estonia permanent and we have units of the US, the world's strongest military power, present here,» the minister said.
Estonia continued to provide military assistance to Ukraine this year, with arms and equipment worth nearly 250 million euros delivered, and has spearheaded several international initiatives to support Ukraine.
«Ukraine's fight for freedom can only be successful if the allies continue to support Ukrainians with real and substantial aid in the range of 0.25 percent of gross domestic product per year. It is not just Ukraine that is at stake, but also the security of Estonia, the transatlantic community and the wider world,» Pevkur added.