At the beginning of July, NATO allies were provided with a draft of capability targets, negotiations over which will now begin, with an agreement expected by next fall, said Meelis Peterson, head of NATO planning at the Ministry of Defense. He emphasized that the specific details of these targets are not public. "However, we can say that the initial capability targets given to Estonia are significantly larger, which will lead to an increase in the need for ammunition, although not substantially, as corresponding plans were in place before," he explained.

Peterson added that NATO does not set targets for small arms but for larger caliber weapons.

When asked whether this includes missiles with a range of several hundred kilometers, as mentioned in a military review associated with the former commander of the Defense Forces, Gen. Martin Herem, Peterson responded, "Yes, we can say that." He stressed that he could not disclose more specific plans.

Peterson explained that the new capability targets are based on the changing security situation, driven by Russia's aggressive war in Ukraine, and are guided by political directives from defense ministers. The capability targets have been increased for all allies, he added.

"The NATO capability planning process consists of various steps and is based on political guidance within NATO, which sets out the assumptions and requirements for what tasks NATO must be able to perform, and from this, the minimum capability needs assigned to member states are calculated," he said.

Peterson also mentioned that the updating of capability targets considers three principles: the principle of fair burden-sharing, the principle of reasonable challenge, which implies that countries should also strive to develop their military capabilities and the principle that no single country should contribute more than 50 percent to a capability.

"The final approval of the new capability targets is scheduled for next fall. The process involves negotiating the initial targets, with further bilateral negotiations between NATO and member states, and the current plan calls for final approval in the fall of 2025, when defense ministers meet. The capability targets are set for a medium-term period of seven to 15 years, so it provides a fairly long-term outlook," he explained.

As the proposals for new capability targets were only received by member states at the beginning of July, they are currently being reviewed. "Currently, analysis is underway, with the EDF conducting an analysis to determine what this means for us, what we need to add and what is already planned," Peterson said.

"However, the capability planning will not initially change, as we need to reflect these in our long-term plans, which are the 10-year plans in the National Defense Development Plan. They must first be reflected there, that is our initial direction. And then also in the development plan of the Ministry of Defense. But in terms of military plans, nothing will change. The capability requirement is calculated based on military plans," explained the Ministry of Defense representative.

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