The Estonian Defense Forces last year advised the government that Estonia needs €1.6 billion worth of ammunition to develop capabilities to destroy enemy weapons and units behind the Russia border.

Over the weekend, criticism was levied at Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur (Reform) by former Secretary General of the Ministry of Defense Kusti Salm and Isamaa Chairman Urmas Reinsalu.

Salm claimed the minister had not spent a single cent on any of the ammunition proposed by the Chief of Defense's Andrus Merilo last autumn. Reinsalu made similar comments and called for the minister to resign.

At an extraordinary press conference on Monday, Pevkur said €1.6 billion has been committed to procurements and contracts.

"All the ammunition, and even more, is in the works. Our priority is to get it to Estonia as quickly as possible," he told the assembled media.

Director General of the Estonian Center for Defense Investments (ECDI) Magnus-Valdemar Saar confirmed that procurement orders have been submitted, but nothing has been purchased yet.

The official said everything is being done to procure and deliver ammunition to Estonia as fast as possible.

"And once the procurement contracts are signed in the coming months, the commitment process can be considered extremely fast, much faster than the standard across the rest of Europe. Criticism directed at the Center for Defense Investments, the Ministry of Defense, or the defense minister regarding the pace of ammunition procurement is unfounded," he said, adding that they area ahead of schedule.

Saar said all contracts are planned to be finalized in 2025, the majority of them in the first half of the year. Most of the ammunition will be delivered by 2028, he said.

The €1.6 billion is split into three categories. For long-range indirect fire, extended-range artillery shells, loitering munitions, and long-range rocket artillery munitions are being acquired for €675 million.

So far, one public procurement has been announced for loitering munitions. This will be the only public tender in this category, as the rest of these needs will be met through government-to-government deals: with the U.S. for HIMARS ammunition and with Germany for long-range artillery shells. The order was submitted to the Americans last summer, and contractual commitments are expected this year. If an agreement is not reached, alternatives will be considered, Saar and Pevkur said.

"There has been discussion about a potential alternative to HIMARS. The ECDI has conducted a thorough market analysis, and if negotiations with the U.S. do not succeed, we must have the possibility to consider alternatives," Pevkur said.

Secondly, €625 million is allocated for short-range air defense. This is being procured through joint purchases with other countries. Piorun missiles are being acquired jointly with Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Norway, with Poland managing the procurement. The order was placed at the end of last year.

Additionally, more missiles are being procured for Mistral air defense systems through a joint procurement with Hungary, Belgium, Cyprus, France, and Estonia.

The last chunk of money is for medium-range air defense. Agreements have been reached with Germany to procure IRIS-T systems and acquire a large quantity of additional missiles, Saar said. The contract's technical details are being finalized with a total cost of €300 million.

Speaking about the allocation of the €1.6 billion, Pevkur said almost €1 billion is assigned for joint procurements with multiple countries, €500 million is for procurements in collaboration with the U.S., and the remainder is allocated for airstrike munitions, for which a public tender has already been announced.

"No contract signing has been delayed. The reason we have opted for international procurements — which may take a bit longer initially but will ultimately result in us receiving ammunition faster — is that when five countries collectively procure Pioruns, short-range air defense systems, or Mistrals, the order volume is larger, leading to better pricing. Additionally, being part of a joint procurement ensures that the manufacturer prioritizes it, which speeds up delivery. A third argument in favor of joint procurements is that they allow us to reclaim funds through European financial instruments," the minister explained.

Head of the ECDI Magnus-Valdemar Saar stressed on ETV show "Ringvaade" that Estonia has been moving very quickly with the ordering of munitions from the very beginning, but as the amounts are extremely large, negotiations are difficult.

"I don't see at the moment that we could have done anything any faster than we are currently. In all the processes, we have moved forward very aggressively from the very beginning, from the decisions that were made in September, and we shipped out most of the orders last year. The negotiations are difficult because the amounts are large. In some of the categories of ammunition we are buying, our order alone is larger than some manufacturers' previous annual sales," Saar said.

"This comes as a result of international cooperation – negotiating supply schedules with the countries where these industries are located, because in most cases we are dealing with international joint procurements," he added.

On Tuesday, Pevkur will present a plan to the government to accelerate the development of Estonia's defense capabilities. He will then discuss the same topic with the National Defense Committee. On Friday, the minister is expected to hold a joint press conference with Chief of Defense Andrus Merilo.

This article's headline was updated at 5:30 p.m.

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