DSEI 2023: Estonia and Latvia will train with Luftwaffe on IRIS-T in Germany

Estonia and Latvia signed a framework agreement with Diehl on 11 September for IRIS-T SLM air-defence systems. (Diehl)

Estonia and Latvia will receive training, along with the Luftwaffe, in Germany on the IRIS-T surface-launched medium range (SLM) air-defence systems that the two Baltic countries are jointly procuring, a Diehl Defence representative told Janes on the first day of DSEI 2023, held in London from 12 to 15 September.

The training will take place at the ground-based air-defence (GBAD) training facility at the Todendorf training ground on Germany's Baltic Sea coast – which Diehl announced on 3 August that it, the Luftwaffe, and Gebäudemanagement Schleswig-Holstein (GMSH) had opened.

Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur and his Latvian counterpart, Ināra Mūrniece, signed a framework agreement with Diehl in Nuremberg, Germany, on 11 September for IRIS-T SLM air-defence systems. The Latvian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on its website on 11 September that the procurement was the largest investment in air defence in the history of Latvia, and the Estonian Centre for Defence Investments (ECDI) added in a press release the same day that it was Tallinn's largest defence contract, valued at EUR400 million (USD429.28 million). A Latvian MoD spokesperson declined to tell Janes how much Latvia was investing as system tests are still under way and technical specifications are being discussed.