Drone news from Estonia: secondary schools to get drone training and their own drone kits

Drone news from Estonia: drone training is to become part of defence education at secondary schools, as set out in the government's new coalition agreement. Every school offering national defence education is to receive its own drone kit.

Estonia still has a lot of catching up to do in using drone technology for defence, Peeter Tali, a retired colonel and member of the Estonian parliament, said, according to a report by the Baltic Sentinel. Tali: “If we look at Ukraine, Estonia should have around a thousand drone operators – we need to act faster.”

According to the coalition agreement, every branch of the armed forces is to build up drone capabilities, from defence and operations to training. In the classroom, Tali wants to start with simulators and only then move on to real flights. He stressed: “We have many brilliant scientists and entrepreneurs, but their ideas and technologies are finding their way into the armed forces and onto the battlefield too slowly. That has to change – the process must be accelerated.”

Drone news in detail: lessons from Ukraine

Training areas for drones are currently scarce in Estonia. Tali therefore suggests the little-used Pärnu airport as a possible training site.

For Tali, one thing is clear: “Drones are not expensive – what matters is that we finally get started. We must learn from the war in Ukraine (-> latest reports from the war in Ukraine): the brutality has remained, but the weapon systems have changed. The era of the tank is over – we need drone operators at platoon and squad level, otherwise we are not combat-capable.”

As an example, he cited the major Estonian exercise “Hedgehog”. Ukrainian drone operators took part with their own command and control systems and made it clear that the Estonian drone programme must be accelerated.

The coalition agreement also establishes a new command for innovation and future capabilities. Its task: to bring artificial intelligence, new technologies, drones and electronic warfare into national defence quickly.

The report also has positive news on conscription: comprehensive reforms of training are planned for the coming year. In closing, Tali said: “The armed forces must prepare for future conflicts – warfare has changed fundamentally over the past two years.”