Estonia has taken delivery of Piorun MANPADS designed to defeat fixed wing aircraft, helicopters and drones (Estonian Centre for Defence Investments)
BELFAST — The Estonian Centre for Defence Investments (ECDI) has delivered Polish-made Piorun short range manportable air defence systems (MANPADS) to Estonian Defence Forces under a €103 million ($113 million) deal.
The deliveries to Tallinn, which started at the beginning of 2024, were announced by
ECDI on Monday and follow a framework agreement signed with manufacturer Mesko in the autumn of 2022.
At that time, Mesko said it would
supply Estonia with 300 Piorun missiles and 100 launchers. Mesko forecast a production output of
1,000 Piorun missiles in 2023, up from 600 units in 2022.
“This is the first joint defence procurement between Estonia and Poland, with the advantages of quick delivery and a relatively low cost compared to the value of the destroyed target,” said ECDI in a statement. “The technical compatibility of Polish weapon systems, crucial for the security of our region, was also a decisive factor” in Estonia deciding to acquire them.
Piorun is designed to strike fixed wing aircraft, helicopters and drones and can hit targets up to eight kilometres away. ECDI said the weapon is used in Poland and Ukraine and described it as “one of the most successful systems in the Ukrainian war,” noting the weapons are “much easier to deploy” and require operators to train with them for a matter of hours before taking to combat operations.
The weapon will be operated by a “separate war-time unit” from the Estonian Defence Forces, operating under the direct command of the division.
“PIORUN air defence missiles provide additional air defence not only to maneuver units but also to objects that are not in the immediate vicinity of the front line but are located further in the rear, yet are important from the perspective of Estonia’s defense,” said Lt. Col. Tanel Lelov, head of the air and missile defence section of the Estonian division. “In Ukraine, these missiles have proven to be effective against most airborne attack means, and certainly, the principles of their use there will be taken into account in training and employing Estonian units.”
The Estonian government issued funding for the Piorun acquisition from the country’s military defense reinforcement package.
In December 2023, Tallinn approved a new
€80 million ($88 million) long term military aid package for Ukraine that included Javelin anti-tank missiles, machine guns, ammunition for light weaponry and other “vehicles and vessels,” according to Estonia’s Ministry of Defence.
The latest military aid package took Talinn’s overall spending contribution for Kyiv, since 2022, to €500 million ($547 million).
Prime minister Kaja Kallas has also committed Estonia to spend 0.25 percent GDP on military aid to Ukraine over the next four years.
She said in
a post on X (formerly Twitter) last month that “collective commitment of a similar scale could ensure Ukraine’s victory over the next three years.”
Estonian defense minister Hanno Pekvur also
called on NATO members to increase spending “closer” to 2.5 percent GDP, in February 2023.
Estonia was
one of seven countries from the alliance to meet a 2 percent GDP defense spending target in 2022.
