The range of the anti-missile defense of both countries allows full control of the Gulf of Finland.
Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur spoke about plans to integrate the coast guards of Estonia and Finland, which will allow Russian ships to be closed to the Baltic Sea.
"The integration of anti-missile defenses of Finland and Estonia will allow closing the Gulf of Finland to Russian warships. The Baltic Sea, with the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, will become the internal sea of ââthe alliance," he said in an interview with Iltalehti.
According to Pevkur, the preliminary agreement was reached during a meeting with his Finnish colleague Antti Kaikkonen.
The minister reminded that the range of missiles of Finland and Estonia exceeds the width of the gulf and allows to keep it under control.
Last fall, Estonia decided to buy Israeli Blue Spear missiles to suppress naval targets. The range of the missiles is 290 kilometers; they can hit targets anywhere on the coast of Finland in the Gulf.
The MTO 85M anti-ship missile of the Finnish Navy has a flight range of over 100 kilometers and is equipped with a search radar head. Thus, the Finnish military can control the water area up to the northern coast of Estonia.
Also, in the coming weeks, the headquarters of the new NATO division will be established in Estonia, and five of its brigades will be stationed on the country's territory. How many soldiers will be permanently stationed in Estonia is unknown.
"We will not only create a divisional structure but also draw up new defense plans for Estonia and the Baltics," Pevkur said.
Estonia will also purchase anti-tank missiles, new coastal defense missiles, HIMARS missile launchers, and others from the US.