Estonia to receive Blue Spear missiles

The Estonian Defense Forces are due to receive the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)-made Blue Spear land-to-sea missile system, IAI said in a statement on 6 October.

According to the statement, the Estonian Centre for Defence Investment (ECDI) signed a contract with Proteus Advanced Systems, a joint venture company of IAI and ST Engineering Land Systems, which is headquartered in Singapore, to supply the missiles.

In its own statement, the ECDI said that the acquisition is designed to provide the Estonian Defence Forces “with advanced anti-ship missile systems”, adding that the “procurement is one of the largest and most complex in the history of Estonian defense acquisitions”.

It described the Blue Spear 5G as sharing “a heritage with IAI's Gabriel [sea skimming anti-ship] missile family system, which has been developed over many years”.

Launched from land-based platforms and reaching high subsonic speeds, the Blue Spear's warhead employs an active radar-homing seeker, an INS navigation system, and target acquisition systems, according to ECDI. The missile is “immune to GPS disruptions”, it said, and “equipped with a variety of deception means to achieve its mission and cope with the different battlefield challenges”.

The contract will also provide opportunities for the Estonian defence industry, ECDI said.

Kalle Laanet, Estonia's defence minister, said, “This weapon system substantially improves our coastal defence and sends a clear message that we are contributing to the regional and collective defence effort.”