Latvia, Estonia to buy German IRIS-T air defence systems

Latvian and Estonian defence ministers, Inara Murniece and Hanno Pevkur, have signed a contract to purchase IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defence systems from Germany's Diehl Defense at a meeting with their German counterpart in Nuremberg.

The procurement is said to raise the safety of the two countries' air spaces both as concerns safeguarding civilian and military infrastructure, ERR reports.

The nearly €400 million tender constitutes the biggest single defence contract in Estonian history.

"Estonia's national defence has reached a new milestone with this contract," Minister Pevkur said, adding that, "Russia's barbarous war in Ukraine has shown that air defence is critical for protecting the population, armed forces and vital infrastructure from enemy air strikes."

Pevkur added that the historicity and importance of the procurement for Germany was confirmed by the fact that German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius participated in the signing, which took place at the Diehl Defense Development Centre in Röthenbach near Nuremberg.

Priit Soosaar, strategic category manager (C4I, Cyber & Radars) for RKIK, said that the agency managed to ensure short delivery times and the best price during the project.

"Close cooperation with Latvia made it possible to manage the project more efficiently, get economies of scale and also gave us a better position in negotiations. In the future, similar systems will allow to improve interoperability, exchange experience, share spare parts and ammunition and organize joint training," he said.

In addition to the air defence system, including launchers, radars, fire control centres and missiles, the Estonian Centre for Defense Investments will also procure other supporting elements, such as training and life-cycle equipment. Furthermore, the framework contract will provide the possibility to acquire in the future various modifications of air defence systems, including systems with long-range capability.

The IRIS-T SLM air defence system to be procured is designed to be used against manned or unmanned aircraft, cruise missiles, guided weapons systems and certain types of ballistic missiles. Thanks to its capability, the system is able to affect multiple targets simultaneously and eliminate threats at a range of up to 40 kilometres and an altitude of 20 km above the ground.

Estonia and Latvia signed a mutual intentions protocol to jointly acquire medium-range air defence at the NATO summit in Madrid in June 2022. In July last year, the Estonian Centre for Defense Investments signed an agreement with the Latvian Ministry of Defense to commence a joint procurement. The Estonian government allocated the funds for the procurement in September 2022.