When last Friday, three Russian combat planes broke into the airspace of Estoniafor the Baltic country it was no surprise. Although he described the maneuver as an “extremely dangerous” and “unprecedented” rape, Stable I knew it was the fourth aerial incursion of Russia So far this year.
The fear that Estonia can become the next Ukraine He has led the government to arm themselves to the teeth. This Wednesday, he confirmed that he will shoot his expense in defense To reach 5% of the Commence National, giving an impulse to the manufacture of ammunition and explosives. The bet goes through companiesthat’s why the liberal executive recently launched a Investment Fund of 100 million euros to accelerate the development of deep tech, Technologies avant -garde like the artificial intelligence or quantum computing, applied to the military field.
That war preparation, according to the prime minister Christian Michalis promoting the economy. “Conflicts are usually the basis for Innovación and the defense industry and Cybersecurity De Estonia is growing at a pace that nobody would have believed possible five years, “Michal explained in a meeting with journalists to which the newspaper has attended. Russia threats They are a business for companies in the sector.
Conflicts are the basis for innovation and the Defense and Cybersecurity industry of Estonia is growing at a rate that five years ago seemed impossible
Private investment in war
The flourishing technological ecosystem Estonio has signed up for that trend, a participation that was accentuated after, in February 2022, Russia reactivated the war in the east of the continent with the invasion Ukraine military. In fact, it was the private sector that convinced the government to create that investment fund in Military technology. Among them, Boltthe European Uber, which has donated five million euros to the defense of Kiev.
“The sector is growing as never before,” explains the businessman Ragnar SassDarkstar co -founder, a background of RISK CAPITAL which brings together Investors of Estonia, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Ukraine to finance war technologies that promises to mobilize an investment in start-ups military of 25 million euros. “Europe needs proven, reliable and ready defense technologies for use in the field of battle“Sass points out, dressed in a green camouflage sweater with the motto “Rearmar Europe”.
The war of the future is already present
The war of the future goes through technological innovations in the military field such as droneslos robots or the constellations of satellites of Telecommunications y surveillance. Some of them have exposed themselves this week at the annual Baltic Conference on Defense, held in Tallin, a meeting with a title –Enemy to the doors: make Europe a fortress– It reveals the intentions of the industry. There, the newspaper has been able to see since Autonomous armored cars that the Ukraine army already uses on the war front to a Remote control piloted and equipped with thermal cameras that the Estonian Government is testing for rescue operations and to detect the ghost fleets of Moscow.
“NATO has much less time to deter Russia than it is usually assumed,” says a report by the International Center for Defense and Security of Estonia presented at the fair. “The deterrence You must start now, despite the fact that most European allies are going through a period of transition y vulnerability“.
Exhibition of weapons at the annual Baltic Conference on Defense, in Tallin (Estonia). / Meeli Küttim
Commercial explosion in Europe
That phenomenon extends through Europe. The war in Ukraine and the instability of the global geopolitical board have made, in the last decade, the European Union has stepped on the accelerator to allocate 7.3 billion euros to the development of arms technologies for the period from 2021 to 2027, a trend that has accentuated after the return to power of Donald Trump and the gradual replication of USA of the old continent. The agreement between NATO members – to the exception of Space– To increase defense expenditure to 5% of your GDP illustrates that turn. And is that the Kremlin It allocates more than 8% of Russian GDP to its war economy.
The change of time has also translated into mercadofiring the investor appetite in the war industry, something that until recently was a taboo. So far this year, the actions of European arms giants such as Rheinmetall, Thales o BAE Systems . The investment in start-ups European Defense has shot 500% between 2021 and 2024, points out of the McKinsey consultant. Last year, the investment reached the record of 5.2 billion, according to the and the Research Group of Alom. Globally, the Military spending It grew 9.4% in 2024 to 2.7 billion dollars. According to him, the world attends the greatest increase since the end of the Cold war.
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