The Republic of Estonia signed an agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to acquire long-range loitering munitions, making it one of the most expensive defense acquisitions Estonia has ever made.
As reported by the Israeli company, the acquisition of advanced long-range munitions is intended to strengthen Estonia’s defensive capabilities by significantly increasing its indirect fire capabilities.
«»Long-range loitering munitions are an important addition to the development of Estonia’s defenCe capability. The importance of indirect fire cannot be overestimated, as Russia has caused much of the destruction in Ukraine through indirect fire. The introduction of this new capability allows us to attack the enemy from a longer distance. As a result, indirect fire becomes more layered and flexible, increasing the range of fire, which means that the defense forces can hit the enemy where it hurts,» stated Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur, during the signing of the contract with IAI.
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Estonia began conducting market research for the procurement of long range loitering munitions in the spring of 2022, identifying several companies from the United States, Turkey, South Korea, Poland, Germany, Israel, the United Kingdom and Estonia as potential suppliers. The Estonian order focused primarily on achieving long-range offensive capabilities. Criteria included accuracy, ammunition robustness and long-range simultaneous offensive capability.
Although the amount of the contract was not disclosed, nor was the type of loitering munition specified, the Estonian Minister of Defense was photographed in front of a mock-up of the Mini Harop system.
IAI Mini Harop
Information released by the company describes the Mini Haropo as a low-cost tactical loitering munition designed to provide small ground units and special operations forces with significant situational awareness and firepower in a compact package.
Stored, transported and launched from a sealed canister, as many as 12-16 Mini Harop units can be carried on a small vehicle and launched upon request. The Mini Harop is easily operated and controlled from a tablet-sized electronic control panel with a tactical low-power data link to the loitering munition.
Equipped with a high-quality day/ night electro-optical guidance system, the Mini Harop can collect visual intelligence of surrounding areas up to a range of 50 km. The Mini Harop is powered by a silent electrical motor with two hours of loitering time.
This loitering munition can locate, acquire and dive on operator designated targets with a warhead of nearly 3 kg and extremely high accuracy (better than 1 m CEP). The Mini Harop operator also has a built-in «abort and go around» capability to prevent unnecessary collateral damage or mistaken targeting. In the event that no target is found, the Mini Harop can be recovered and reused, significantly lowering mission costs. The unique combination of silent operation, long operational life, long-range communication and pinpoint accuracy, coupled with secured «in canister» logistics, make the Mini Harop an ideal weapon for infantry, Special Ops and other similar users..
