However as a result of budget constraints, the planned procurement of military vehicles and communications equipment is to be postponed, while fewer Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) and other defense personnel are to be deployed overseas than was initially planned.

The ministry has opted to expedite some of its more critical planned purchases via a new development plan.

Tiina Uudeberg, undersecretary for defense planning at the ministry, said: "The main focus with this newly approved development plan is on ammunition. We are investing even more than in the previous plan, to a total of over €1.5 billion."

"That is an exceptionally large sum," Uudeberg went on.

"Second, we are enhancing our indirect fire capabilities. We have two self-propelled artillery battalions on their way, and with the development plan, a third will be added to that."

"The third area of strong focus lies with situational awareness, intelligence, and targeting capabilities. The basis of these choices was what would engender the greatest military effect," the undersecretary continued

Additionally, the ministry has stressed the importance of military exercises. "At least one-third of our reserve force should participate in exercises annually," Uudeberg said.

The Ministry of Defense's development plan outlines the exact spending on national defense over the next four years and is updated annually.

The plan allocates €5.3 billion all told.

"This is about €176 million less than we expected based on the previous economic forecast, and we have included the cost of supporting Ukraine – decided at 0.25 percent of GDP. This amounts to a bit over €100 million each year," Uudeberg said.

As a result, in order to buy more ammunition, some other purchases have had to be put on the back burner.

Uudeberg said: "We have rescheduled certain communication capabilities and the procurement of military transport vehicles. We reduced funding on repair and maintenance, and cut some other militarily significant, albeit not the most critical, acquisitions."

Uudeberg also noted that there will be less funding available in the meantime for deployment on foreign missions.

"We will no longer take part in operations at the same scale in the coming years," she said.

While rerouting funds from other expenses does allow for the immediate purchase of more munitions stocks, it is not sufficient on its own, Uudeberg added.

"The stocks we can achieve via this 3 percent funding are not sufficient," she said, referring to Estonia's benchmark defense spend of 3 percent of GDP per annum, higher than that of most NATO member states.

"The €1.6 billion which has been repeatedly referenced in the media is essential to acquire even greater amounts of ammunition. This is needed for Estonia to be able to sustain a longer period of conflict, should the need arise," Uudeberg said.

Some foreign missions EDF personnel have taken part in in recent years include French-led operations in the West African nation of Mali.

The Ministry of Defense said earlier this week that it is to spend at least €1.55 billion over the next four years on procuring ammunition, in line with its new 2025-2028 development plan, a spending which makes up over a quarter of the €5.3 billion budget

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