A NATO ally sharing a border with Russia is doubling down on its buying of the US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) that has been a key part of Ukraine’s fightback against Russia.
Estonia’s defense ministry told Business Insider that it has an agreement with the US to acquire six additional HIMARS units. It’s waiting on exact delivery dates from the US side.
“It is important for Estonia to have the ability to influence the enemy deep within its territory,” the ministry said. To this end, it is necessary to increase Estonia’s deep-strike capability with additional rocket launchers.”
Estonian Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur originally told Breaking Defense that his country wants to buy six additional HIMARS, potentially more, and has been in contact with the maker, Lockheed Martin, but the company needs Pentagon approval for the sale.
The country is pursuing a deeper investment in the system after already receiving six HIMARS in April. The ministry said the earlier acquisitions were just the start of “developing our deep-strike capability.”
Pevkur told Business Insider in March that Estonia considers HIMARS to be essential to its deep strike capability, having seen the impact this weapon has had in Ukraine.
The multiple rocket launcher arrived in Ukraine in June 2022, marking the first major Western weapon supplied to Kyiv after months of debate over whether sending such systems was worth the risk. There were concerns initially that supplying big-ticket weapons would be escalatory and might end up in Russian hands if the country fell.
Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
Its arrival was a turning point and a big success for Ukraine. HIMARS were eventually followed by a string of other high-profile weapons like US-made Patriot air defense systems and F-16 fighter jets.
With the introduction of the HIMARS and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS), Ukraine suddenly took away Russia’s artillery advantage and showed it was able to hit Russian targets like ammunition depots and command and control centers that were previously out of reach. It also used them to hit Russian troops and aircraft.
Electronic warfare and jamming, along with the arrival of other advanced long-range strike systems, have reduced HIMARS’ effectiveness and taken it out of the spotlight, aside from some tactical ballistic missile strikes. It has also suffered shortages of ammunition, limiting effectiveness.
The versatile weapon is still in use, though, and Ukraine is expecting to receive more. In October, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy identified HIMARS as a priority for his military.
NATO allies sharing a border with Russia want HIMARS
Estonia is among a number of European countries concerned about Russian aggression, and Pevkur said that Ukraine has demonstrated that deep strikes are necessary in a fight.
He said that Ukraine has shown that being capable of striking far behind the front lines, with Ukraine hitting Russian positions, weaponry, and stockpiles, and even oil facilities deep into Russia with long-range drones and missiles.
He said that deep-strike capabilities are an area where NATO allies “need to invest” and “need to have a lot more than what we have today.” Pevkur emphasized that it’s vital for NATO members to “learn from the challenges that Ukrainians have” — to understand what works and what doesn’t for Ukraine and to see what Russia is doing so that their militaries are as prepared as possible.
He added that having HIMARS also sends a “deterrence message” to Russia.
Other Baltic countries, Latvia and Lithuania, which are also NATO members that border Russia, have also invested in HIMARS as well as a host of other defenses as they eye Russia warily.
Latvia has an agreement with the US for six systems, expected by 2027, and Lithuania is buying eight, with the first deliveries due this year.
The Baltic nations have been among the loudest voices within NATO calling for greater alliance spending and support of Ukraine. Their defense budgets are among the highest in NATO as a proportion of their GDP, and the money so far has gone toward border defenses, air defenses, armored vehicles, and drones.
Pevkur told Business Insider that it was important for the West that countries on NATO’s eastern edge, like the Baltic states, are well defended to deter Russia and to be able to stop it if needed. “The eastern flank is the front door of NATO, so we need to keep it closed,” he said.
