MILAN — Estonia has launched a competition to procure decoy equipment for luring enemy forces into attacks, the latest in a line of Tallinn’s defense investments animated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Estonian Center for Defense Investments, the procurement arm for the military, published tender documents in mid-September inviting bids for mock-up platforms by the end of the month. Tallinn expects to spend $10 million on the purchase.
Officials are looking for models of real weapon systems, ammunition as well as communication and radar equipment, complete with training for setting up and maintaining the decoys, according to the notice.
No further details given regarding the specific types of decoys Estonia is looking for or which branches of its military will utilize them.
Estonian officials have been among the most adamant European NATO members in saying that Russian aspirations to seize territory could extend well beyond Ukraine.
In a recent interview with the Spanish national newspaper El Pais, Col. Mati Tikerpuu, the commander of one of the two brigades of the Estonian Army, said Tallinn “would be able to resist an invasion for a couple of weeks” before alliance reinforcements arrived.
Since the 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius, the Baltic states – Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia – have unveiled a series of plans to step up the protection of the region, given its proximity to Russian territory.
These have included the planned construction of a “drone wall” to defend against Moscow, in cooperation with Poland, Finland and Norway. Additionally, Estonia is in the process of building a fence along its 294 kilometers border with Russia that will be equipped with cameras and radars.
Ukraine has made use of a variety of fake military equipment since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
In February, pictures emerged on social media reportedly showing Ukrainian dummies of ground-based air defense systems, including highly realistic replicas of German-provided Iris-T air-defense equipment and the U.S.-made AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar.
Other European countries have purchased similar equipment this year, including Germany, which awarded a €50 million ($54.4 million) contract to Rheinmetall for the supply of Birdie aerial infrared decoys.
These are to be fitted on German military aircraft to protect against air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, by acting similar to flares that can emit heat and be deployed by pilots to confuse missiles about their target.
Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.
