Defence in brief: Estonian Land Forces receive Turkish vehicles

The Estonian Land Forces have accepted armoured vehicles from Nurol Makina and Otokar into service at a ceremony close to Tallinn held on the 11th March. 

The vehicles were ordered in October 2023 and deliveries had started in late 2024 with a scheduled completion in 2025, providing the Estonian Land Forces with a significant lift in their capabilities.  The order includes 130 of the Arma 6×6 from Otokar and 100 of the NMS 4×4 protected mobility vehicles from Nurol Makina, 50 of which have already been delivered. 

Many of the vehicles will equip Estonia’s 2nd Infantry Brigade and some will go to Estonia’s Rescue Board providing a demining service. 

“We have a very hostile neighbour, and this hostile neighbour is conducting a full scale war of aggression in Ukraine. We understand that when that war is over, a lot of those capabilities will be partially relocated to our neighbourhood and we have to be very strong, and clear in our messages that we are ready to do whatever it takes to defend our country and people,” Hanno Pevkur, the Estonian Minister of Defence said at the ceremony.

His statement underscores the urgency felt by Nordic and Baltic countries in the need to rearm and prepare for a potential future conflict. Denmark’s intelligence services believe that there will be two years after Ukraine before Russia will be ready to hold Europe at risk again. 

Calibre comment

The presence of Turkish companies in Europe is growing with Nurol’s contract in Hungary being one example, and others including the rapid growth in sales of the Bayraktar TB2, which has been sold to Croatia and Poland among others. Aselsan also announced a EUR50 million order for land systems from an EU country in late 2024, indicating the possible sale of an air defence or radar system. Many Turkish companies have existing production capacity that can quickly be utilised to deliver orders in a short space of time, the Estonian Defence Forces and their NMS and Arma vehicles, with deliveries starting just a year after the contract signing, are one example of this.  

By Sam Cranny-Evans