"The war in Ukraine has had the greatest impact on our culture. People now understand that there are wars. The last 10 years of peace in Europe have created the perception that peace has come to the world," he said. "We have forgotten that peace is a rare phenomenon in human history and that violence has been a constant. You'll find very few isolated episodes of prolonged piece, only to start again," he said, referring to decades of European wars.

"The fact that we did not have war in Europe for a while is a blessing. But now it's back and people are starting to realize it," he said.

It is too early to draw conclusions about the current course of the war in Ukraine, he said.

Tikerpuu said he would be cautious about drawing lessons or conclusions about the situation in Ukraine. "The war is still ongoing over there, and what seemed to be an appropriate solution and would work a year ago may not work today. And if this war goes on for another year or two or more, the lessons of today may not be relevant in three or five years," he said.

Also, the different geography of Estonia and Ukraine and the fact that Estonia is a member of NATO and that we have very powerful allies, which Russia fears, must be taken into account, he said.

But what we have learned from the Russian army is that its tactics and solutions are not very different from those of the Second World War.

This was surprising, because we had watched and seen the Russians learning from the conflict in Kosovo, from the way the Americans fought in Iraq, from the way they fought in Afghanistan, and from the way they developed their own precision weapons and command and control systems. But now if we look at the way this war in Ukraine has gone, it is not a war of high technology or maneuver, it is still a war of pure attrition: a war of massive gun power and no regard for human life.

Russia does not value the life of a soldier the way the West does: "What we got from the Russians is that it is more of a mass army, and we have to be ready to fight the masses," he said.

A small army trained for special operations and using only precision weapons would be no help against Russia, he said. "Well, you won't last long against Russia with such a force, because at some point you will run out of precision weapons, and you won't be able to destroy this mass with precision weapons anyway, you would need more weapons and more people. So this (the war in Ukraine - ed.) changes a little bit the approach to the principles of how to fight Russia."

"They do have the precision weapons and they use them, but they don't have a lot of them and it's significantly more expensive than human mass, for them," he said.

"All the more so because if sanctions are now imposed to limit the spread of technology [to Russia], they will have less and less chance of producing their own precision weapons. So at the moment it does not seem that they have made a significant qualitative leap in this regard."

Russia's mass army tactics dictate how Estonia should prepare for its own defense, and in Tikerpuu's estimation, Estonia has done the right thing: "The model that Estonia has developed throughout its independence – a reserve army based on conscription – has certainly been the right choice, because without reserves even Ukraine will not be able to fight Russia in the current war. What is needed are people who will carry a weapon and sit on the line and crush this invading mass.

The war in Ukraine has also put a spotlight on drones, which were not widely available until recently but have now become a widely used tool, he said.

"Whereas a few decades ago and in a few conflicts, we saw it as a kind of very expensive and ultra-modern system that only rich countries could afford, now the production has exploded and the use of drones is extensive at several levels - both to attack strategic targets and to destroy the soldier in the trenches. So we see this as a trend, and it is something that we have to take into account as we develop our armed forces and adapt our training," he said.

"Well, I wouldn't call it a drone force," he said of Estonia's drone capabilities. "But we already have drones and we use them in the same way at different tactical levels – in particular, we use them for target search and fire control. We have already invested in this, and this type of weapon is now in units and training."

The defense forces are also learning to fight with drones, the colonel said. "We have to engage in surveillance - whether it is electronic warfare or simply destroying them with small arms fire. That's what we're incorporating into our training today," he said.

Tikerpuu also said the training simulates drone attacks and teaches defense forces units how to avoid or repel them.

Artillery is still very central to warfare, he said. "It is certainly a weapon that has been and will continue to be relevant on the battlefield of the future. The Russian Army has been using it for a long time, and artillery systems are also its strength. In this respect, we must and will develop our artillery in such a way that it can hit the enemy from a distance, i.e., their units will reach ours only after they have been damaged by our artillery fire. We also learn to use our artillery against theirs to destroy and disable their indirect fire capability. The goal is to fire farther and more accurately than they can."

In confronting a massed Russian army, the West can count on the allies to develop capabilities of significantly higher quality: they can fire farther and more accurately.

"But, yes, it is certainly a capability that needs to be developed within the Estonian division; be it self-propelled artillery, or Himars or something else in the future alongside them. So artillery was, is, and will remain very relevant," he said.

Commenting on the defensive lines that both sides in the war in Ukraine have built on the front line, which allegedly prevented Ukraine from mounting a successful counterinsurgency in the summer, Tikerpuu said he did not see anything revolutionary or new in it.

"Our current defense plans include fortification, and that is why we are preparing for it even in peacetime – we have stocked up on these dragon bars (tank and armored vehicle barriers - ed.) or concrete barriers. We have the ability to dig our units into the ground to make sure they are protected from enemy artillery fire. In this respect, all this is already in place today and in the plans," he said.

What is new, however, is that the defense forces want to do more in peacetime: "If today we have already secured and transported all kinds of resources so that we can get them up faster, then the next step is to prepare some fortified positions, or perhaps in peacetime to dig trenches and partially cement some of them so that people will be safer there.

Asked whether Estonia is preparing more for a frontal war or to repel a Russian landing, which has been discussed more in recent years, Tikerpuu replied that Estonia must be ready for everything.

"Nothing can be excluded. The Russians tried to achieve a similar success in Ukraine by bombing Kiev. The problem was simply that it was badly planned and badly executed, they were defeated there," he said. "But they have that kind of force, and they are certainly prepared to use it in the future. But it may not be a long-term operation.

Tikerpuu said that another Estonian advantage in training has been shown by the current war: "If you look at the way the Russians fight and how their leadership is extremely centralized and there is not much awareness at the lower level of what is being done at all, and this ignorant mass is simply pushed forward, then the Ukrainian side is already using the same principles of tactical leadership that we and NATO are also taught. That is, task-centered command and control, maneuver warfare principles, and the delegation of decision-making authority downward, so that subordinate leaders have the courage and ability to take the initiative."

"What gives us success at the lowest level is that we are faster in our decision-making, we can make the right decisions faster, which ensures better tactical solutions, which save lives and destroy the enemy. So, this direction has been confirmed in Ukraine and gives us confidence to continue in the same direction, that our battle management principles are better than our opponent's and will bring us success on the battlefield," the colonel said.

Asked if his assessment of the inevitability of war was too pessimistic, the brigade commander replied that we should not worry too much and that Estonia was better protected than ever before.

"There is no need to worry; worrying will not help anyway. We can prepare ourselves, and in this respect, our country is doing very well at the moment. Estonia has never been so well protected as it is today. And every day our protection is improving because we are developing our defense forces very fast and in important directions," he said.

"So there may not be a war. But the probability is not zero. But we have every reason to believe that if we continue our preparations in the present direction, we have a good chance of success," he said.

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