MILAN — The Estonian government plans to halt a major combat vehicle procurement to prioritize drone and air defense acquisitions, citing battlefield lessons from the Ukraine war and the rising costs of armored vehicles.
Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said on April 9 that Tallinn expects to suspend the planned €500 million ($587 million) purchase of new platforms intended to replace its CV90 infantry fighting vehicles. Instead, the Baltic nation has chosen to extend the service life of its current fleet by up to 10 years.
“To move forward with other necessary developments and extend their service life, this decision had to be made today — we will now inform market participants that we will not proceed with this program,” Pevkur said during a press conference on April 9, as quoted by Estonian outlet ERR.
RELATED: Ticking clock: Northern NATO defense chiefs see ever-closing ‘window’ to prepare for Russia
Although the new purchases will still involve substantial funding, Pevkur said that they should be significantly cheaper than a complete fleet overhaul, since he expects the price tag of combat vehicles to rise.
Pevkur added that, given the diminishing battlefield utility of heavy equipment, it is not “reasonable to replace” CV90s over the next decade. Citing lessons from Ukraine, he said that Estonia’s focus has shifted to “countering drones, air defense, and unmanned systems.”
The decision to abandon the program will be finalized as part of the country’s annual spring review of its four-year defense budget, based in part on recommendations from the Commander of the Estonian Defense Forces, Lt. Gen. Andrus Merilo. Adopted last year, the 2026-2029 defense budget, which is subject to revisions, allocated €10 billion to bolster national defense capabilities.
Since acquiring 44 used CV90s from the Netherlands in 2014, the Baltic nation’s vision of its future combat vehicle fleet has somewhat wavered.
Tony Lawrence, a research fellow at the Tallinn-based International Centre for Defense and Security thinktank, explained that while the government had initial plans to replace them by the end of the decade, a number of options were being considered.
One of them was the CV90 MK IV infantry fighting vehicle manufactured by BAE Systems. In June, Estonia was one of six European countries to sign a statement of intent exploring a joint purchase of the platforms. Lawrence said other vehicles, like the General Dynamics Ajax or Ascod, as well as South Korean defense firm Hanwha’s Redback IFVs had been considered prior to Pevkur’s announcement.
More Drones, Air Defenses
Lawrence noted that it is not yet fully clear how the money freed up by the fighting vehicle program will be used. Pevkur’s indication that the money will likely be redirected to acquiring additional unmanned technologies and air defense systems has been reinforced by recent incidents, in which several drones unintentionally strayed into Estonian territory.
On March 25, drones that were launched as part of a large-scale attack by Ukraine on the Russian port of Ust-Luga, inadvertently entered Estonia’s airspace, with one striking the chimney of a power plant.
These types of systems are also in line with Tallinn’s doctrine of “active defense,” Lawrence added. The concept seeks to use deep strikes and other measures to prevent war-fighting operations on Estonian soil, which he says implies a reduced reliance on traditional land systems.
