--- title: "Spain to deploy NASAMS air defence systems in Estonia" id: "69587" type: "post" slug: "spain-to-deploy-nasams-air-defence-systems-in-estonia" published_at: "2023-02-14T15:20:57+00:00" modified_at: "2023-02-14T15:28:50+00:00" url: "https://estonianworld.com/security/spain-to-deploy-nasams-air-defence-systems-in-estonia/" markdown_url: "https://estonianworld.com/security/spain-to-deploy-nasams-air-defence-systems-in-estonia.md" excerpt: "Spain will deploy a NASAMS air defence system to Estonia in April for a period of four months. The deployment was agreed by the Spanish […]" taxonomy_category: - "Security" publisher: "Estonian World" language: "en-GB" author: "Silver Tambur" author_url: "https://estonianworld.com/author/silver/" --- # Spain to deploy NASAMS air defence systems in Estonia ![Image](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Nasams_launcher_vliegbasis_valkenburg_NSS.jpg) NASAMS launcher in the Netherlands. Photo by the Dutch defence ministry, public domain. By [Silver Tambur](https://estonianworld.com/author/silver/) · February 14, 2023 · [Security](https://estonianworld.com/category/security/) · 3 minutes of reading ### Spain will deploy a NASAMS air defence system to Estonia in April for a period of four months. The deployment was agreed by the Spanish defence minister, Margarita Robles, and her Estonian counterpart, Hanno Pevkur, at the NATO defence ministers’ meeting in Brussels on 14 February. According to Pevkur, as Estonia awaits the arrival of its own air defence systems, it is important that allied support is present. “The Eastern flank of NATO has grown its muscle significantly over the past year. Considering the need to fill this critical gap in our medium-range air defence capabilities, I am very glad we reached an agreement with Spain on the deployment of their NASAMS medium-range, ground-based air defence system for four months, starting this April,” he said in a statement. The Estonian defence minister added that the NASAMS unit will enable the Estonian Defence Forces to learn the tactical specifics of a medium-range air defence system. [https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/NASAMS_II_E.T.-scaled.jpg](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/NASAMS_II_E.T.-scaled.jpg) Spanish NASAMS 2 launcher vehicle during a military parade in Spain. Photo by Outisnn, shared under the Creative Commons 3.0 licence. ### Defending the Ämari Air Base The objective of the NASAMS unit in Estonia will be the defence of the Ämari Air Base. The unit is combat-ready and will be deployed to Estonia on the command of the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe. A similar unit has been deployed to Latvia – the two systems will be linked and will be part of NATO’s Eastern flank air and missile defence. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have made a joint proposal in NATO to establish an air defence rotation model in the Baltic states – similarly to the Baltic Air Policing mission currently in place. With the air policing mission, larger NATO member states rotate their fighter jets for the defence of the Baltic air space. The rotation usually lasts six months, with the Ämari Air Base in Estonia and the Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania hosting four allied jets each. Estonia [will also buy its own air defence systems](https://estonianworld.com/security/estonia-purchases-six-himars-rocket-launcher-systems-from-the-us/) – HIMARS multiple rocket launcher systems from Lockheed Martin. [https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/BAP-OFFICIAL-20160427-0002-0128.jpg](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/BAP-OFFICIAL-20160427-0002-0128.jpg) The Ämari Air Base in Estonia. Photo by the UK defence ministry. ### Developed for Norway The NASAMS (Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) is a short to medium-range ground-based air defence system developed by the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and the US defence firm Raytheon. The system defends against unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters, cruise missiles, unmanned combat aerial vehicles and fixed wing aircraft, firing any of a wide range of existing missiles. The development of NASAMS began in the 1980s when Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace teamed up with Hughes Missile Systems and initiated the programme as a cooperative effort for the Royal Norwegian Air Force. The system is in use in Australia, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the US. ## About The Author ![Avatar photo](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/local-avatars/2/1572652467-bpfull-100x100.jpg) [Silver Tambur](https://estonianworld.com/author/silver/) Silver Tambur, co-founder and publisher of *Estonian World*, studied journalism at the University of Tartu and politics at Birkbeck, University of London. He has edited Estonian Public Broadcasting’s English news and contributed to *Business Sense*, *Deutsche Welle*, and *Radio New Zealand*. He is currently editor-in-chief of *Trialoog*, TalTech’s business and research portal. You can also follow him on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SilverTambur) and like [his page on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/silvertamburpage/) . You can write to Silver at [silver@estonianworld.com](mailto:silver@estonianworld.com) .