Expert: Estonia's acquisition of precision-guided missile systems creates new military foothold

MOSCOW, October 5. /TASS/. The transfer of multiple rocket launch systems from the United States and South Korea to Estonia has made the country a "bristling" foothold equipped with precision-guided weapons, Alexander Stepanov, a military expert at the Institute of Law and National Security at RANEPA, told TASS.

"Estonia was turned into a foothold bristling with offensive precision-guided missile weapons. This is due to the contracts for HIMARS systems, of which nine units were ordered, and six of them were already put into service. The ammunition load includes M57 ATACMS missiles with a range of up to 300 km. Besides, the country ordered the South Korean version of HIMARS - Chunmoo, also equipped with high·precision long-range munitions," he said.

"Estonia has become the first country in the region to receive fifth-generation Blue Spear anti-ship missiles from the Israeli company Israel Aerospace Industries. This is an advanced version of the Israeli Gabriel 5, with a range of about 290 km, which allows it to control large areas of water covering the adjacent part of the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland."

On October 5, the Financial Times said that Estonia is actively moving troops to the border with Russia as part of a so-called "active defense program."

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on statements made by Estonia’s defense minister about the country’s readiness to fight Russia with the phrase "the circus has left - the clowns are still here." He also called such statements by the Estonian government "complete nonsense, complete delusion."