The Estonian Armed Forces have received their first-ever IRIS-T SLM air defense system from Diehl. The acquisition of the system marks the beginning of Estonia's comprehensive air defense development.
However, the system will not yet be operational because, as Riivo Valge, commander of the Estonian Air Force, officially stated, "it will take months to ensure the necessary training of the system's operators and achieve combat readiness."
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At the same time, an air defense division was established within the Estonian Armed Forces as early as July 1, 2023. However, the country—which has never had such systems in service—simply lacks the specialists needed to operate the IRIS-T SLM.
It should be noted that a year ago, Estonia gave up its place in line for the system in favour of Ukraine. Instead of receiving it as early as the fall of 2025, it has only just been delivered now.
In addition to the uniqueness of the upgrade itself, the purchase of this air defense system marked Estonia's largest defense procurement to date. In 2023, as part of a joint procurement with Latvia, Estonia ordered three IRIS-T SLM batteries for approximately €400 million, without disclosing the types or quantities of missiles included.
So, Estonia has gained an important tool for defending its airspace, since this mission is currently being carried out by the air forces of other NATO countries as part of the Air Policing mission. In this case, Madrid's response was particularly telling: when Lithuania asked to shoot down russian aircraft violating its airspace, Spain replied that the Alliance's mission is limited to "deterrence" and "surveillance."
In other words, once the Estonians have mastered the IRIS-T SLM, Tallinn will be able to determine on its own how to respond to russia's systematic violations of the Baltic country's airspace. It should be noted that The IRIS-T SLM has a range of up to 40 km, which is sufficient to cover Estonia's airspace over the Gulf of Finland.
Given the exceptionally high effectiveness of the IRIS-T SLM system in use by the Ukrainian Air Force, this system has now been ordered by eight European countries: Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland.
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