Estonia plans to start its own ammunition production no later than early next year.

The production of ammunition is to be set up on the territory of the military town of Ämari.

Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur announced this, ERR reports.

According to him, while Estonia does not have a defense industrial park, it is necessary to look for other ways to accelerate the production of ammunition within the country.

“In today’s security situation, it is necessary to start producing ammunition in Estonia as soon as possible,” Pevkur reported.

The Minister said that one of the options was to provide a company with the opportunity to start such production in Ämari on a tender basis.

“There is an infrastructure for this with appropriate safety and reliability requirements,” Pevkur said.

Therefore, in the near future, the Estonian Centre for Defence Investments (RKIK) will organize a tender, the winner of which will receive an area of about 8,900 square meters with seven depots in the military town of Ämari for three years.

These facilities are to be used for the production of ammunition and explosives.

This February, the Estonian Ministry of Defense announced that the country plans to produce ammunition and explosives at its own facilities. This will involve the creation of a defense industrial park with an area of about 100 hectares. It is expected that the first batches of ammunition will be produced there in August 2026.

The Estonian government supported the proposal of Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur to initiate a national special plan to create facilities for the production of small, medium and large caliber ammunition and explosives, as well as the necessary infrastructure.

The plan will define the exact location of the defense industrial park and the conditions for designing and building its basic infrastructure at public expense. After that, interested companies will be able to build their own production facilities on its territory.