Estonian Land Forces

The 1st and 2nd Divisions were created during the Estonian War of Independence; the 1st Division in December 1918 and the 2nd Division in January 1919. The Scouts Single Infantry Battalion was formed on 21 December 1918. Eight 'Single Infantry Battalions' were formed on 21 November 1928. The battalions were created to train conscripts during peacetime. In wartime, the battalion would reorganize itself into a regiment with a similar order of battle as the two initial reaction force regiments covering the eastern and southern borders. Each battalion's peacetime strength was a total of 237 soldiers in a regimental staff, a Signal Platoon, an Engineering Platoon, a Ski-Bicycle Platoon, a Building Platoon, and three infantry companies. The wartime order of battle would have transformed the battalion into a regiment-sized unit with the same unit number. It would have included 3 infantry battalions, Signal Company, Engineering Company, Ski-Bicycle Company, Cavalry Company, Building Company, Commandant Commando, and a CB Commando; all in total of 3,153 men. The 2nd Single Infantry Battalion was located at Tartu, the 3rd Single Infantry Battalion was located at Valga, the 4th at Jõhvi, the 5th at Rakvere, the 6th Single Infantry Battalion was located at Pärnu, the 8th Single Infantry Battalion at Valga, the 9th at Pärnu, and the 10th Single Infantry Battalion was located at Tallinn. A reorganisation took place on 1 February 1940 and a fourth division was created. The 4th Division staff was based in Viljandi. The division was made up by the Pärnu-Viljandi Military District and Valga Military District. The division's commander was Colonel Jaan Maide. The four divisions were active until the Soviet occupation of Estonia. On 17 August 1940, after Estonia was occupied by the Soviets, the 22nd Territorial Rifle Corps of the Red Army was formed at Tallinn. The Army was created as a territorial Estonian body based on military units and institutions of the Estonian army. All soldiers and officers kept the Estonian Army 1936-spec uniforms but with Soviet insignia. The first commander of the 22nd Territorial Rifle Corps was a former major general of the Estonian army, Gustav Jonson, who was later arrested by the NKVD and shot. Most of the corps' officer posts were occupied by former officers of the Estonian Army. By the middle of June 1941, before the German invasion of the Soviet Union; most of the Estonian Army officers were arrested and replaced by newcomers from the Soviet Red Army officers. Many of the Estonian officers of the 22nd Territorial Rifle Corps body were arrested and died in 1941 and 1942 in camps in the Soviet Union; many were shot. The former commander of the 180th Rifle Division, 22nd Corps, Richard Tomberg, survived after dismissal only because from 1942 He was claimed by the Frunze Military Academy as a teacher. He was arrested in February 1944 (He was later released from the camp and rehabilitated in 1956). Some officers of the 22nd Rifle Corps, among them Alfons Rebane, managed to escape from the authorities in the period between dismissal from the army and the plan for their arrest. Some managed to escape abroad, others came out of hiding only after the arrival of German troops in July and August 1941, some of them volunteered for the Estonian units that fought on the side of Nazi Germany or enlisted in Estonian organisations controlled by the Germans. The 22nd Territorial Rifle Corps was part of the 'operational army' during World War II from 22 June 1941 to 31 August 1941. On 22 June 1941, the 22nd Territorial Rifle Corps headquarters was stationed in the village of Rev. == Organization ==

Military units Fire and maneuver team A fire-and-manoeuvre team () is a small Estonian military unit led by a soldier that is subordinate to an infantry fireteam. The fire and maneuver team is bigger than an individual soldier but smaller than a fireteam. The fire and maneuver team is the smallest military formation among the Estonian Ground Force infantry units. The fire and maneuver team usually consists of two soldiers. The more experienced soldier leads a fire and maneuver team in the pair. One fire and maneuver team is meant to operate on a battlefield along with other fire and maneuver teams on a landscape no greater than 20 x 50 metres. There are no logistical support elements in the structure of a fire and maneuver team. Fireteam A fireteam () is a small military unit led by a senior soldier that is subordinate to an infantry squad. The fireteam is bigger than a fire and maneuver team () but smaller than a squad (). A fireteam is one of the smallest military formation among the Estonian Ground Force infantry units. One fireteam is meant to operate on a battlefield along with others on a landscape no greater than 50 x 100 metres. There are no logistical support elements in the structure of a fireteam. Squad A squad () is a small military unit led by a non-commissioned officer (NCO) that is subordinate to an infantry platoon. A squad is bigger than a fireteam () but smaller than a platoon (). A squad is one of the smallest military formation among the Estonian Ground Force infantry units. One squad is meant to operate on a battlefield along with other squads on a landscape no greater than 100 x 200 metres. There are no logistical support elements in the structure of a squad. The formation transport is usually made up by one tactical transport vehicle such as a Mercedes-Benz Unimog 435. Platoon A platoon () is a small military unit led by a commissioned officer that is subordinate to an infantry company. A platoon is bigger than a squad () but smaller than a company (). A platoon is one of the smallest military formations among the Estonian Ground Force infantry units. A platoon usually consists of thirty to fifty soldiers, and is further subdivided into squads. A platoon is composed of five squads of ten soldiers each, as well as a platoon leader (; in Defence League ) who is usually a junior lieutenant (). His second in command is known as a platoon sergeant (; in Defence League ). • Headquarters and Signal Battalion, in Tallinn • Artillery Regiment, in Tapa • ISTAR Battalion, in Tallinn • Logistics Battalion, in Paldiski • 1st Infantry Brigade, in Tapa • Headquarters and Signal Company, in Tapa • Scouts Battalion, in Tapa, professional rapid reaction unit armed with CV-90s • Kalev Infantry Battalion, in Jõhvi • Viru Infantry Battalion, in Jõhvi • Artillery Battalion, in Tapa • Air Defense Battalion, in Tapa • Engineer Battalion, in Tapa • Combat Service Support Battalion, in Tapa • Anti-Tank Company, in Jõhvi • 2nd Infantry Brigade, in Luunja • Headquarters and Signal Company, in Võru • Kuperjanov Infantry Battalion, in Võru • 22nd Infantry Battalion (Reserve) • 23rd Infantry Battalion (Reserve) • Artillery Battalion (Reserve) • Air Defense Battalion (Reserve) • Engineer Battalion (Reserve) • Combat Service Support Battalion, in Võru • Anti-Tank Company (Reserve) == Personnel ==

As of 2025, Land Forces have around ~3500 active-duty soldiers and roughly ~30,000 reserve soldiers. Training Estonian Land Forces organizes Spring Storm () exercises every other year. 9,000 soldiers participated in the exercise in 2017. Between Spring Storm's there is also Hedgehog (Siil). In 2025, over 16,000 EDF and allied soldiers participated in the exercise. Ranks == Equipment ==

Weapons Although the defense force employs various individual weapons to provide light firepower at short ranges, the standard weapons used by the ground force are the 5.56x45mm LMT R-20 Rahe, domestically upgraded variants of the Automatkarbin 4 and Galil-AR assault rifles. Galil & AK4 were switched out for LMT R-20 Rahe, as well as the variant of the MP5 submachine gun for special operations force, Cyber Command, Military Police and some Air Force units. The primary sidearm is the 9x19mm USP semi-automatic pistol. Machine gunners are armed with a variety of specialized weapons, including the MG 3, Negev NG7 and Ksp 58 light machine guns, to provide suppressive fire at the fire-team level. Indirect fire is provided by the and Carl Gustav M2, M3 & M4 Recoilless rifle anti-tank/anti-personnel launchers. The Benelli-M3T dual-mode shotgun is used for door breaching and close-quarters combat. An 7.62x51 LMT R-20-L marksman rifles are used by marksmen and snipers, along with the Sako TRG and the Hecate II heavy sniper rifles used by snipers. Hand grenades, fragmentation and smoke grenades along with the grenade launcher systems, such as the HK-GLM and HK-79N, are used. The defense force also employs various crew-served weapons to provide medium and heavy firepower at ranges exceeding that of individual weapons. The 12.7mm Browning M2HB heavy machine gun is generally used as a vehicle-mounted machine gun used on Patria Pasi XA180EST and XA188EST armoured personnel carriers. The ground force uses two types of mortar for indirect fire support when heavier artillery may not be appropriate or available. The smallest of these are the M252, B455, and L16A1 mortars that normally assigned at the infantry company level. At higher echelon, infantry battalions are supported by a section of M-41D and 2B11 mortars, Estonia gave Ukraine 36 122mm D-30s and 24 155mm FH-70s. The ground force uses a variety of shoulder fired missiles, recoilless rifles, and anti-tank guided missiles to provide infantry and mechanized units with an anti-armor capability. The B-300 is a reusable man-portable anti-tank shoulder-fired missile system The 90mm Mistral is an infrared homing surface-to-air missile, which along with the ZU-23-2 twin-barreled anti-aircraft cannons mounted on trucks make up the backbone of the defense forces' air defense. Vehicles The ground force does not operate any main battle tanks, although some types were in service of the ground force till the Soviet occupation in 1940. The Estonian Ministry of Defence has indicated a need to obtain main battle tanks by 2020 according to the national defense development plan. This idea did not go through. As of 2014, the infantry fighting vehicle CV9035EE is the ground force's main Infantry fighting vehicle, it is fitted with a autocannon turret and a KSP58 General-purpose machine gun, and carries up to 8 fully equipped soldiers. The ground forces' most common armored vehicles are the Pasi series armored personnel carriers of which some have been fitted into ambulance and command post vehicles roles. The similar Pasi XA180EST and Pasi XA188EST armored personnel carriers are the standard troop carrier vehicles of the ground forces 1st Infantry Brigade. The Pasi XA-180's, which were acquired first, have been used by the defense forces' expeditionary units on peacekeeping operations in Central Asia and Africa. In 2025 the final batch of 130 Otokar Arma 6X6 APC's and 100 Makina NMS 4X4 Infantry mobility vehicles were delivered to 2nd Infantry Brigade. The Estonian Ministry of Defence has signed contracts for the procurement of 36 K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzers from South Korea, 18 of which had been delivered by December 2022. As of May 2025, all 36 K9's have been delivered and integrated into Artillery Battalion of 1st Infantry Brigade. In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Estonia signed a contract with the United States for the procurement of 6 HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, which were delivered in early 2025 and 12 CAESAR self-propelled howitzers, which were also delivered in early 2025. While the ground force do not have any utility helicopters, attack helicopters or aircraft of its own, the ground force does operate several types of unmanned aerial vehicles and rotorcrafts. There are no operational armed drones in service of the ground force. In 2014, the Estonian Ministry of Defence announced that Estonia, along with 12 other NATO members, plans to purchase Global Hawk drones to increase its military reconnaissance capabilities. This did not go through. The defense forces' most common utility and logistics vehicles are the Unimog and DAF series general-purpose trucks and light utility vehicles such as the Unimog 416, Unimog 435, DAF YA4440, and MB 250GD. There are varieties of different MAN and Sisu built military logistics vehicles, such as the MAN 4520, 4620, 4640, KAT1, and Sisu E13TP, in use of the ground force, which are capable of serving as a cargo/troop carrier, artillery tractors, weapons platform and ambulance, among other roles. Uniforms The M06 ESTDCU, is the Estonian version of the digital camouflage uniform and its various patterns are designed for use in woodland, desert, urban, and winter warfare environments. Soldiers of Estonian Land Force get the PASGT combat helmet, a ballistic vest, and a night vision device. == References ==