Estonia to smooth out the hodgepodge
The Estonian Army numbers some 6,000 active and 35,000 reservists, fielding two infantry brigades, a legit operations task group, and a number of smaller units. The country also fields a large and organized unpaid militia.
The force, however, is armed with a wide array of small arms to include 7.62mm Swedish-made AK4 rifles (licensed copies of the HK G3A3) and 5.56mm Israeli Galils alongside German HK G36s. Most were well-used surplus rifles even before they were passed on to Estonia.
That’s a lot of different rifles for an army that, when everyone is counted, still weighs in at less than a Corps-sized element.
To homogenize the Baltic state’s arsenal, LMT was selected this week as the winner of a $25 million tender to provide Estonia with 16,000 5.56mm M4 and 7.62mm AR-10 style weapons, beating out competitive designs submitted by Heckler & Koch, Sig Sauer, and Patriot Ordnance Factory.
More in my column at Guns.com
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