Estonia should consider acquiring light jet aircraft to intercept Russia’s newer jet-powered long-range attack drones, Defence Minister Martin Herem has said. The proposal would give the country a limited national air-defence capability without establishing a conventional fighter fleet, complementing its current reliance on NATO allies for air policing.
Herem made the proposal after visiting Ukraine, where he examined the difficulty of countering attack drones that fly faster and higher than conventional unmanned aircraft. He considers aircraft equipped with air-to-air weapons a potentially effective response, while cautioning that turboprops may lack the required speed. Other options under consideration include computer-controlled cannon systems, heavy machine guns and interceptor drones.
Estonia has no national fighter fleet but leases two L-39 Albatros jet trainers from Aerohooldus OÜ. The aircraft are used mainly to train tactical air controllers and cannot currently be converted into combat aircraft because of their civilian status and lease conditions. Existing L-39 experience, pilots and air-control expertise could nevertheless support a future light-jet capability.
No aircraft type, quantity, budget, contract or delivery schedule has been identified. Aero Vodochody and Thales are separately developing a counter-drone configuration of the L-39 Skyfox, but no Estonian procurement has been linked to that programme.