Defense sector leader: Lockheed Martin move takes Estonia's capabilities to next level
Lockheed Martin's decision to set up a HIMARS maintenance center in Estonia boosts defense and the economy, said defense sector lobbyist Taavi Veskimägi.
Veskimägi is Supervisory Board chair of the Estonian Defense and Aerospace Industry Association.
"Having been involved in the sector since 2009 as a founding member of the Estonian Defense Industry Association, we have always told the government that the defense industry is a component of defense capability," Veskimägi told "Esimene stuudio" Wednesday evening.
"Without a defense industry, there will be no defense capability. The more industry we can bring to Estonia, the better protected we will be. We are not only talking about peacetime, but also about times of crisis and conflict. What is important is having the local capacity to keep these weapon systems operational and maintained, even during crises and wartime. Localization efforts such as the one we are seeing with HIMARS and Lockheed Martin are certainly vital in ensuring this capability exists not just on paper for Estonia, but is actually available at the moment we need it—and on a sustained basis," Veskimägi, a former board chair of Elering, went on.
According to Veskimägi, bringing a company of this size and category to Estonia relates to weapon systems procurement, and thanks to these developments Estonia has finally entered the next level in advancing its defense industry.
"As a defense industry association, we would clearly like to see that, from today onward, roughly half of our defense budget gets spent on investments, and we would like at least 30 percent of every investment over €10 million to remain in Estonia. Whether this takes the form of a maintenance center of the same company, a contract with an Estonian firm, an industrial company producing components, or a development center — this is clearly something we consider vitally important. We have, so to speak, entered the second phase of advancing Estonia's defense industry," Veskimägi went on.
He noted that whereas in the past the sector tended to be viewed through the prism of defense capabilities, based on a belief that the more weapons the greater the capabilities, in his view, it is now finally being grasped that, given Estonia's geopolitical position, there is essentially one sector, i.e. defense, that could also be beneficial to Estonia in and of itself.
"On the question of its importance for the sector, many of Estonia's best-known defense industry flagships today, such as Milrem, have actually grown following the same logic — they started simple and continuously accumulated knowledge, skills, and talent, then on that basis developed their own products, created something significantly more complex, and brought it to market," Veskimägi outlined.
Lockheed Martin employs more than 123,000 staff across over 350 facilities in 35 countries. Its portfolio includes the F-35 Lightning supersonic stealth fighters, Sikorsky helicopters, and a wide range of missiles, as well as the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) — the star weapon of the early- to mid-phase of Ukraine's fight against the Russian invasion, now in its fifth year.
Lockheed Martin already has a presence in Europe in countries including Poland, Germany, and the U.K. Adding Estonia to that list is thus a major win.
"We must not underestimate how important it is, from the perspective of overall deterrence, that companies like this are present here in Estonia. This is also a part of deterrence. In reality, our adversary can see that we have this industrial capability, not based solely on our own companies but on an ecosystem in which, I hope, Estonian companies will increasingly play a role."
Veskimägi said he hoped the development would be followed by things moving in the opposite direction too, in other words Estonian defense firms expanding outside Estonia itself, including via export.
"I would hope that it is not only Lockheed Martin that comes and establishes a maintenance center, but that this also helps Estonian companies expand beyond Estonia. Ultimately, when it comes to the defense industry, it is viable to grow large in Estonia, primarily through exports," Veskimägi added.
The Ministry of Defense on Wednesday announced Lockheed Martin is to open a €10 million maintenance center for HIMARS mobile rocket launchers in Estonia. The Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) current has six HIMARS of its own, and Latvia and Lithuania also use the system.
--
Editor: Andrew Whyte, Johanna Alvin
Source: "Esimene stuudio", interviewer Andres Kuusk
