NATO member Estonia, known for its expertise in IT and cyber security, is seeking closer cooperation with India when it comes to jointly developing defence technology and has invited Indian defence companies to tie up with its startups and tech players and identify specific areas of interest.
An Indian defence industry delegation was recently hosted by Estonia, which included visits to the country’s defence manufacturing facilities, centers for innovation and the political leadership.
Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur, who met the Indian delegation, said that Indian companies are encouraged to reach out for partnership.s “The first point of contact definitely is our defence, space industry association.
They have all the necessary contacts and I know that they are very open for cooperation.
I see that there is a rapidly growing defence industry in India and I see that as a developing country, you definitely have a lot of future,” he said.
The Indian industry delegation, which also included major players like L&T, Bharat Forge and Tata, is believed to have already signed some MoUs to explore specific areas for joint development.
“We reached an understanding for cooperation with Eesti Arsenal OÜ in Estonia.
Together, both companies have agreed to work in areas of emerging technologies to bring forth select new products for the aerospace sector,” Col Ramit Arora (retd), CEO of defence startup Aeroshul Technologies, who was part of the delegation said.
He added that the aim is to utilise the best competencies available in both India and Estonia and to avail resilient supply chains and manufacturing efficiencies present in India.
The agreement also seeks to explore market access to Asian markets through India and to the European markets through Estonia.
Indian defence companies are keen to explore high technology available in Estonia in fields like Cyber Security, software development, military robotics, Unmanned Ground Vehicles and Drone Sensor payloads.
Leading Indian protection solutions provider MKU Limited has also partnered with Estonian firm Vegvisir to bring in Mixed Reality Situational Awareness System (MRSAS) for an upcoming requirement of Indian Army’s armoured vehicles.
