Estonia has signed a €50 million (USD59 million) contract to acquire Mistral short range air defence missiles, portable surface to air missiles, training missiles, simulators and testing and maintenance equipment.
The manufacturer of the missile systems, MBDA, is to deliver the first systems to Estonia in 2020, the company said in a statement.
The contract between the Estonian Centre for Defence Investment and MBDA was signed on 13 June in Paris by Colonel Rauno Sirk, the director of ECDI, and Didier Philippe, the senior vice president of MBDA for NATO countries.
The contract includes options for additional missiles up to the amount of €100 million.
“Acquiring additional Mistral 3 rounds is one of our top priorities and critical defence investments in the near future besides automatic rifles and K9-Thunder howitzers,“ Sirk said in a statement.
Under the terms of the contract, Estonia will continue acquiring Mistral SHORAD missiles in their latest generation, which provide increased accuracy and longer service life than missiles of previous generations, the missile manufacturer said.
Mistral missiles are used by the Estonian Defence Forces since 2009.
I
Cover: A mistral missile system (Wikimedia Commons).
