Estonia buys rocket artillery from the United States for 200 million dollars
HELSINKI (AP) – NATO member and Russian neighbor Estonia is bolstering its defense capabilities by buying an advanced U.S. rocket artillery system in the Baltic country’s largest-ever arms procurement project, defense officials said Saturday.
The contract signed on Friday for the High Mobility Artillery rocket system is worth more than $200 million and includes equipment such as ammunition and rockets, as well as training.
The package includes HIMARS rockets with a range of 70-300 kilometers (43-186…
HELSINKI (AP) – NATO member and Russian neighbor Estonia is bolstering its defense capabilities by buying an advanced U.S. rocket artillery system in the Baltic country’s largest-ever arms procurement project, defense officials said Saturday.
The contract signed on Friday for the High Mobility Artillery rocket system is worth more than $200 million and includes equipment such as ammunition and rockets, as well as training.
According to the Estonian Defense Investment Center, the package contains HIMARS missiles with a range of 70 to 300 kilometers (43 to 186 miles). Lockheed Martin Corp. is expected to make the first deliveries in 2024. Estonian officials did not disclose the number of rocket launchers, but local media reported that the purchase consists of six HIMARS.
“HIMARS rocket launchers are a new important step in the development of Estonia’s defense capabilities,” Lieutenant Colonel Kaarel Mäesalu, head of the Force Development Department of the Estonian Defense Forces, said in a statement. “This allows us to make a decisive impact on the enemy even before we come into contact with our infantry units.”
Estonia’s Baltic neighbors Latvia and Lithuania have either acquired or are in the process of acquiring their own HIMARS.
Washington has offered Ukraine with rocket launchers during the Russian invasion. Estonia’s Ministry of Defense said the HIMARS systems “have helped destroy the Russian military’s ammunition depots, transport nodes and command and control centers precisely outside the range of the howitzers used by Ukraine.”
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