The Diplomat
The Government of Estonia is negotiating with Spain to extend the deployment of the NASAMS anti-missile battery in the country, which will expire next August. Tallinn’s goal is to reach an agreement during the informal meeting of EU defense ministers, which will take place this weekend in Toledo.
Last April, Spain sent a NASAMS (Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) battery to the Amari base, in Estonia, as part of the allied deployment of the enhanced Forward Presence operation (enhenced Forward Presence, eFP). The deployment of this battery -similar to the one sent to Latvia in June 2022- was scheduled for a period of four months, expiring in August.
In statements collected by the local media, the Estonian Defense Minister, Hanno Pevkur, assured this past Wednesday that his government is “negotiating” with Spain to extend the presence of the anti-missile battery and expressed hope that an agreement could be reached during the informal meeting of EU defense ministers. “There are indications that we could reach this agreement,” he added.
The battery, made up of an advanced anti-aircraft missile system and 80 Army Anti-aircraft Artillery soldiers, is located at the Amari base under the command of the NATO SACEUR Command. The shipment of the anti-missile system was agreed last February by Defense Minister Margarita Robles and her counterpart, Hanno Pevkur, during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels. The Spanish mission was approved earlier this year with two objectives: to reinforce Estonia’s anti-aircraft defense against Russia and to train the Estonian military in handling the NASAMS system, in anticipation of Estonia incorporating these batteries into its armed forces.
In the same remarks, the Estonian minister regretted that the decision of the NATO Summit in Vilnius to start an air defense rotation among the Baltic States, as is done with the air police mission, has not yet been implemented. deployed for years.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Defense reported yesterday that Spain plans to begin its participation, from August 1 to November 30, in the NATO Baltic Air Police (BAP) mission in Estonia by sending the Amari base of eight Eurofighters from the 11th Wing at the Morón base (Seville), which will be supported by an A400M from the 31st Wing for in-flight refueling. The Amber Detachment will be made up of 130 aviators, mainly from Wing 11, with the support of personnel from another twelve units of the Air and Space Army.
Participation in the Baltic Air Police mission of the Spanish Armed Forces in Estonia is carried out on a rotating basis among NATO member countries to guarantee the collective defense of allied airspace. On this occasion, Spain takes over from Eurofighters from the United Kingdom. It is the second time that 11th Wing aircraft have been deployed to Estonia to preserve the security of the Alliance’s airspace, the first being during the first quarter of 2015.
