Estonia and Latvia to buy military wheeled vehicles for €693 million

Military vehicles jointly procured by Estonia and Latvia for the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF), Estonian Defence League (EDL), and Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) are expected to start arriving in 2023.

Report informs via ERR that Estonia and Latvia signed a 10-year procurement deal worth €693 million deal earlier this year.

Sixteen different types of vehicles will be purchased by the countries, including SUVs, trucks, cranes and tow trucks, in a modernization drive costing €410 million. Some of the vehicles in the current rotation were made in the 1970s.

The exact number of vehicles to be purchased depends on market prices.

"Some changes are bound to happen. But our forecast is that vehicle prices should not change by more than 25 percent. /.../ For the first time, the plan is to agree on the first four years of vehicles at the same time. And we would like them to start arriving in Estonia in the third or fourth quarter of 2023," said Erko Sepri, head of the vehicles and equipment category at the Center for Defense Investment (RKK).