Baltic States exploiting opportunities for joint defence procurements through EDIRPA

  • 2024-11-22

The commentary reviews the results of the 2024 call for proposals of the European Defence Industry Reinforcement Through Common Procurement Act (EDIRPA) and compares the involvement of the three Baltic State institutions in the approved projects by the European Commission.

Two weeks ago, the results of the 2024 call for proposals for the European Defence Industry Reinforcement through Common Procurement Instrument (EDIRPA) were announced. EU member states and Norway submitted 12 applications to the European Commission (EC), of which five were selected. The countries had about four months to clarify their needs for joint arms procurement, find partners and jointly prepare applications. The countries could submit applications to cover part of the costs of joint procurement of air and missile defence systems, modern armoured vehicles and ammunition. The EC had earmarked EUR 300 million to support all projects.

Baltic States’ involvement in EDIRPA call for 2024

The ministries of defence of the three Baltic States and their subordinate structural units actively participated in submitting applications to the EDIRPA call, but the success of the participants was uneven. Estonian structural units (Ministry of Defence, Defence Investment Centre) will participate in three projects. The Latvian Ministry of Defence will participate in two projects, and the Defence Resources Agency under the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence will participate in one. The EC will allocate a grant of EUR 60 million for the implementation of each project.

Latvia, Estonia, and four EU countries will jointly participate in the JAMIE project, which aims to acquire IRIS-T SL medium-range air defence systems. It is worth noting that the Minister of National Defense Laurynas Kasčiūnas in May this year had mentioned the consideration of purchasing this type of weaponry from Germany. Still, later in October, it became clear that Lithuania would additionally purchase Norwegian-made NASAMS medium-range air defence systems for 234 million euros..

Estonia and eight other countries will participate in acquiring French-made Mistral short-range air defence systems (project MISTRAL). Notably, Lithuania is also increasing its stock of this weaponry and plans to acquire Polish-made Piorun systems. Just last week, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the defence institutions of Poland, Estonia, Norway, and Lithuania regarding the acquisition of Piorun systems using the EDIRPA program. It is believed that it will be possible to use the EDIRPA grant only in 2025, and that is if the tender is won. Meanwhile, Latvia's position on acquiring this type of weaponry in the future needs to be clarified, as two years ago, the Latvian Ministry of Defence purchased RBS-type weapons from the Swedish manufacturer SAAB.

Estonia will participate jointly with three other EU countries in acquiring 155 mm HE artillery shells (project HE 155mm).

Latvia and the three countries already participating in the Patria 6x6 armoured vehicle program will jointly acquire a modernized version of this vehicle (project CAVS). Latvia's Patria armoured vehicle assembly plant, which opened this May, should produce over 200 units of this type of armoured vehicle ordered by the Latvian Ministry of Defence. Neither Estonia nor Lithuania has a plant of this type capable of ensuring the production and assembly of military equipment of such complexity.

Lithuania, together with five EU countries, will participate in the procurement of various types of 155 mm artillery shells. It is worth noting that further details have yet to be provided regarding which manufacturers the shells will be purchased from and over what period. Therefore, the newly built 155 mm artillery shell factories in Lithuania and Latvia could receive state orders through the EDIRPA program.

Future developments

The EDIRPA program, at least as reported by EC representatives, has helped mobilize EU-wide joint orders and commitments to purchase weapons worth 11 billion euros. The positive effect achieved by mobilizing EU members allows us to expect that the EDIRPA program will be continued in 2025 and that the range of funded topics will gradually expand.

Next year's EDIRPA competition will likely have more participants and proposals. Hence, national institutions need to join consortia in which leading EU economies would participate, as this could enhance winning chances. 

The most critical moment of participation in the EDIRPA program remains the need to acquire weapons that the member states need. Jointly acquired weapons must meet high-quality requirements and be tested on the battlefield. Therefore, in some cases, joint acquisition involving all the Baltic States may be unrealistic due to the different needs of the countries, different military capability planning cycles, and the fact that one type of weapon has already been acquired. However, this does not prohibit individual Baltic States from joining other countries' projects, as seen in this year's results.

It is likely that the Baltic States will continue to participate in the next round of EDIRPA calls by joining projects that benefit them. With the gradual development of national defence industries, politicians' interest in including specific projects in the EDIRPA program, such as individual soldier systems, drones, and small-calibre ammunition, will increase.

Comment author. Donatas Palavenis, researcher fellow in the Baltic Institute of Advanced Technology (BPTI).