Starting in 2027, the period of conscript service in the Estonian Defense Forces will be extended to 12 months.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Estonian Defense Forces, Major General Andrus Merilo, said that the 12 months duration will replace the current model of eight or eleven months.

“In addition to qualitative changes in training, there will also be combat duty,” Merilo said.

After completing the basic course and mastering their specialty, the conscripts will be able to perform specific tasks with an anti-aircraft gun or other weapons.

According to Merilo, it is also necessary to borrow the experience of the Russo-Ukrainian war.

To this end, in 2026, only 1,200 people will be called up for service as an exception, and this so-called interim year will be used to train the regular military.

When the usual number of recruits is reached again in 2027, i.e., from 3000 to 4000 people, they will receive new military training, including drone training.

“The most important change is that today the battlefield is visible in detail 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can no longer take a single step without taking into account that the enemy sees it and can influence you with the help of systems that have not been used on the battlefield before,” stated the Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Forces.

Currently, the duration of the service in the army depends on the time of conscription: the January and July conscription lasts 11 months, and the October conscription lasts 8 months.

In February, the first Estonian conscripts began training on French CAESAR artillery systems.

The curriculum was developed based on the experience of using K9, as well as the best practices of French and Estonian artillerymen.

The training course will last for seven weeks and will end with tactical exercises and live firing in late March.