Estonia sits at the centre of recent Baltic Sea security threats for NATO countries, with two of several critical underwater infrastructure (CUI) incidents involving damage to nodes connecting Estonia to Finland.
These incidents occurred, however, at a time when the Estonian Navy was already planning to enhance its force structure and capability, responding to wider deterioration in Baltic regional security.
Sitting on the front-line of security challenges in the region, the navy is beginning the process of re-capitalising its front-line force.
Commodore Ivo Vark, who was appointed Commander of the Estonian Navy in June 2024, told Naval News (in an interview at navy headquarters, Tallinn) that the navy’s force structure and capability is based around two primary tasks.
First, it builds maritime situational awareness (MSA), using patrol vessels, mine warfare vessels, and a network of at-sea, coastal, and airborne surveillance assets (crewed and uncrewed), plus integrating with other Estonian maritime stakeholders including the air force, border guard, and police. “We try to compile the best possible MSA, because that’s pretty much the basis of everything – so, the knowledge,” said Cdre Vark.
Second, a purely military contribution the navy makes is mine warfare, including mine laying and mine countermeasures. “We’re equally capable of laying mines and disposing of mines,” said Cdre Vark.
A third capability layer the navy provides is the Blue Spear anti-ship missile, a containerised coastal missile defence system. “These are fairly capable missile systems with extensive reach, and you can cover a lot of the Baltic Sea,” the commodore said.
Despite this combined surveillance and kinetic capability, the navy is seeking to build – starting in the current defence planning round – the number of assets it has to carry such capability.
Based on an assessment of Estonia’s national and naval requirements – including geophysical issues like location, regional geography, and hydrography, analysis of naval doctrine, extensive academic research, and conversations with neighbours Latvia and Lithuania – the navy has developed what Cdre Vark called a “well-structured and compiled plan”. “It’s highlighting that the future fleet should consist of 10 to 12 vessels, of two different kinds,” he explained.
The two different kinds include: three larger vessels, about 100-m size, capable of ocean patrol and executing a range of tasks in all weathers; and a number of smaller vessels, of approx. 55-60 m length, which operate in a coastal capacity but also complement the larger ships.
The two vessel types should have similar features, said Cdre Vark. Using a mission-based, modular capability approach, these feature requirements reflect the three core tasks the navy conducts. The vessels should: have a good sensor package, including radar and electronic warfare suites, to meet the MSA requirement; be capable of laying mines; and carry sufficient self-defence capability. These tasks will all be enabled by a robust command-and-control (C2) capability. “These are the basic requirements for the vessels, regardless of whether they are big or small,” said Cdre Vark. The modular capability approach will enable the navy to deliver any of the outputs across any of the platform types.
A force level of up to 12 vessels would represent a significant capability step-up. In 2024, the force level numbered 10. However, in April 2024, two 17 m force protection-class patrol vessels – commissioned into the Estonian Navy in October 2021 – were donated to Ukraine, to help secure the country’s grain export corridor through the Black Sea.
In the short term, two more vessels – a patrol ship and a mine layer – are set to be retired at the end of their service lives. “[It is] natural necessity to have something new replacing those [two] vessels,” Cdre Vark added.
The navy’s capability development requirements are placed within Estonia’s wider Defence Development Plan – a 10-year, government-led plan that broadly outlines Estonia’s defence capability and budget requirements. The Chief of Defence sets the priorities in single service and joint capability contexts. The Minister of Defence holds the funds to resource the plans and capabilities. Within this process sits the four-year application plan, where capabilities and funding are connected to timeframes.
Estonia is currently compiling the next 10-year plan, reaching out to 2035. The plan is set to be ready in the second half of 2025. “This is the moment where we can secure the funding, highlighting the requirement whilst attaching the necessity for the funding in the 10-year plan,” said Cdre Vark.
“I won’t say we’re going to have all the fleet, or the 10 or 12 vessels, replaced within this [10-year] timeframe,” the Chief continued. “My ambition is to start building the ships and securing some of the funding within that plan.” However, he added, “Urgently, we need to start building two ships at least.”
Beyond platforms, the navy is considering broader capability development options.
Like other navies, it is exploring different options for integrating maritime uncrewed systems (MUS) with crewed platforms to enhance operational outputs. Cdre Vark sees use for MUS in meeting the navy’s surveillance requirements. “There’s a lot of potential …. Air, surface, sub-surface,” he explained. “They can also be weapons carriers – but complementing crewed systems.”
Estonia is lead navy in the 10-European Union (EU) country ‘Euroguard’ uncrewed surface vessel (USV) programme, which is looking to develop a semi-autonomous, 43-45 m USV. “The main purpose of this project is to explore how far you can actually go with using uncrewed [concepts] on surface vessels,” said Cdre Vark.
The navy is also conducting research and development (R&D) projects for introducing smaller USVs. In the first half of 2025, for example, the defence ministry is providing R&D funding for the navy to test a prototype USV called ‘EUROMITE’ – built by Sirentech Solutions (a Baltic Workboats/DefSecIntel joint venture) – for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike roles. The final purpose of the prospective capability would depend on the outcomes of the trials, however, Cdre Vark explained.
Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) is another area. “We need to start working on this capability,” said Cdre Vark. “The recent incidents required us to have knowledge not only on the surface and in the air, but also sub-surface.” While the navy is only in the early stages of its ASW thinking, one conceptual option it may assess is combining static sensors with uncrewed systems, and deploying effectors in lightweight mission modules onboard the future patrol vessels.
Naval News recently interviewed Commodore Ivo Vark on camera, at the Navy Tech 2024 conference in Helsinki:
