(Bloomberg) -- Estonia’s top defense official called on NATO to improve air defense for member states bordering Russia amid a critical shortage of long-range anti-missile capabilities across the alliance.
The ability to fend off ballistic missiles is one of the biggest gaps in allied defenses. Long-distance weapons such as the Patriot system, several of which NATO allies have donated to Ukraine, are also extremely expensive.
“Clearly the border nations are in the most critical situation,” Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told Bloomberg in an interview on Tuesday. “If the border nations are defended then definitely Berlin and Paris are also significantly more secure.”
NATO headquarters sent its member nations proposals for new defensive capabilities in July, with an alliance-wide agreement expected in second half of 2025. The proposals outline spending commitments over the next 20 years.
The urgency to obtain air defense was underscored over the weekend as two Russian drones veered into Latvian and Romanian territory. Latvia has said the country’s ability to identify drones in its airspace is limited, with Defense Minister Andris Spruds calling for an increased allied presence during a meeting with top NATO officials on Wednesday.
NATO jets patrol the airspace of the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, none of which has fighter jets. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Baltic officials also requested a regular presence of allied air defense systems.
Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas suggested to reporters Wednesday that the remit of NATO’s Baltic air patrol be expanded to allow fighter jets “immediately take off and destroy drones.”
Estonia’s top military commander Andrus Merilo urged the government last week to acquire €1.6 billion ($1.8b) in additional ammunition to enable longer-distance strikes.
Without this, a military conflict with Russia would mean “catastrophic losses” for Estonia, the commander said in a document that is not public, according to public broadcaster ERR.
Estonia recently introduced a defense tax and the country is already the second highest defense spender as a share of economic output in NATO after Poland. Pevkur said last week that Estonian defense spending could potentially rise to 4-5% of growth domestic product in the years ahead.
“We have already acquired over €750 million ($825 million) worth of ammunition in the last two years, which is more than the total of the previous 30 years,” Pevkur said, adding that another €3 billion is in store for ammunition purchases through to 2028.
--With assistance from Aaron Eglitis and Milda Seputyte.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
