Kunnas, a reservist officer, said all Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) needs should be produced domestically. He added the sector needs to pull itself together in the current security picture, and despite higher-than-average defense spending in both NATO and the EU as a percentage of GDP.

"Our defense spending is now over 5 percent, but if next year the plan is 4.5 percent of GDP, then it is clear that we do not have very long-term sustainability if we are unable to produce ourselves what is needed for our military defense," Kunnas said. "Such that as large a share as possible of the money we put into defense spending would remain in the country."

This works both ways according to Kunnas, both in boosting domestic output and in attracting foreign defense industry investment.

Latvia and Lithuania both grant the state a much larger role in their defense industries, Kunnas said. He cited German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall building factories in both countries but not in Estonia as an example.

"Where are our partners, the major companies from the European countries?" Kunnas inquired. "We are a part of Europe, the European Union — it is vital that we be able to bring major manufacturers here who could establish production in such a way that it would remain operational even during wartime, meaning underground [facilities]," he went on, noting lessons to be drawn from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

While Ukraine lost a lot of defense industry infrastructure early on in the invasion, since that invasion failed quite spectacularly to take Kyiv and has since stalled, Ukraine has been able to rebuild its defense industry. This has included help from aid provided by Western democratic nations.

"They have realized that whatever is not dispersed or placed underground can simply be destroyed again," Kunnas noted.

Meanwhile the National Defense Committee's chair, Kalev Stoicescu (Eesti 200), was more cautious on the domestic defense industry situation, though he granted that there are still issues.

"The state has invested heavily in the defense industry, at over €100 million and more, meaning the state, too, has certain expectations," Stoicescu said. "But I would not over-dramatize the situation and state that everything is very bad," he added.

The committee is in talks with the Ministry of Defense on how to involve the state more in Estonia's defense industry. This has included looking at how the sector could continue to function during an actual wartime or crisis situation.

At a meeting last week, committee members pointed out that the state could take on a larger role in the defense industry sector, currently largely in the private sector's hands.

The ministry's Deputy Secretary General for Defense Industry and Innovation Siim Sukles acknowledged that in crisis scenarios, local defense industry companies must be able to supply what is needed domestically.

The issue is that at present the EDF cannot consume all the output of domestic defense firms. This is simply because the needs do not stretch that far currently, Sukles said.

There is also one defense industry firm fully under state ownership, he noted: Hexest Materials, which makes explosives.

A private investor is already being sought to assist with both construction and technology there. Even then, the state's stake will remain at 51 percent, Sukles said.

"As for other defense industry companies, it is true that the state has no ownership stake in any of them," Sukles added.

This need not be a problem in and of itself, he went on. "I think this is clearly where we differ from Finland, Latvia and Lithuania — but it does not seem to me that this is wrong, either. There are currently no obstructions or market barriers that would require us to enter this business or market using state-owned companies."

So long as Estonian defense industry firms are able to maintain quality and price and meet the ministry's criteria, then the EDF will of course purchase from them.

The sector in Estonia is also small, Sukles noted, and the product range is quite narrow. To ensure capabilities, a great deal has to be procured from abroad in any case. This includes long-range missiles and multiple rocket launchers (MLRS) systems.

Sukles also said that underground production facilities are not realistic at present.

"In my view, Estonia also does not currently have the money to start building underground factories," he said.

This is even the case with regard to disused mines and quarries, for instance in Ida-Viru County, given Estonia's small land area when compared with, for instance, Ukraine.

"This talk that there are mines somewhere that are unused and we will move factories there, but things are not really that simple. If a conflict situation were to arise, the whole of Estonia would be under threat; where a factory is located would not really matter," he added.

Three industrial parks dedicated solely to the defense industry and involving both domestic and foreign firms are going ahead: Ermistu, near Pärnu; a smaller facility close to Ämari Air Base, and a planned facility in Ida-Viru County.

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