Estonian officers have stated that the new HIMARS launchers and ATACMS missiles are intended to neutralise Russian rear-area concentrations in the opening hours of any conflict before forces can cross the border.
12:04, Thu, Nov 27, 2025 Updated: 12:07, Thu, Nov 27, 2025
A M142 HIMARS rocket is launched during a demonstration in the USA (Image: AP)
Estonia has launched a £3.4 billion ($4.23 billion) purchase of six additional M142 HIMARS launchers, together with 182 long-range ATACMS missiles, which will enable strikes up to 186 miles (300 km) inside Russia, the Baltic state’s Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on September 29, 2025 of the proposed package, which contains six wheeled HIMARS launchers, 182 Army Tactical Missiles (ATACMS), 856 pods of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rockets, training equipment and support. Each launcher can fire either one ATACMS missile or one six-rocket GMLRS pod (DSCA Transmittal No. 25-62).
An infographic illustrates how Ukraine has ATACMS missiles to strike targets inside Russia (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
A ministry spokesman stated that deliveries will not commence before 2028, but Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur informed the Halifax International Security Forum on November 22 that Estonia is prepared to order additional launchers and missiles if Lockheed Martin's production allows.
The deal will raise Estonia’s total to 12 HIMARS launchers and 182 ATACMS missiles. Latvia contracted six launchers in December 2023; Lithuania signed for eight in November 2022.
Estonia shares a 207-mile (333 km) land border with Russia. Fired from positions near Narva, the new ATACMS missiles can reach central St Petersburg, Pulkovo airport and Kronstadt naval base. From south-east Estonia they can strike Pskov, Kingisepp, Luga military base and the M9 highway and Moscow–Riga rail line.
Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said when the first six launchers arrived on April 30, 2025 that the HIMARS system “closes a critical capability gap that has existed since independence”.
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Ukraine launch HIMARS attack on Seim River bridge in Kursk
The second batch and the ATACMS missiles, combined with separately purchased South Korean K239 Chunmoo launchers, form the core of a £2.25 billion (€2.8 billion) deep-precision-fire programme for 2025–2028.
Congress has raised no objections during the statutory 30-day review period that began in September. The final contract is expected to be signed before the end of the year.
The Baltic purchases were driven by Ukraine’s combat use of the same combination. The United States delivered the first HIMARS launchers to Kyiv in June 2022.
Ukrainian crews fired their first GMLRS rockets on July 1, 2022, destroying four Russian ammunition depots in one night.
Between July and September 2022 fewer than 20 launchers struck more than 400 high-value targets — command posts, supply nodes and air-defence sites — according to daily Ukrainian General Staff reports and Pentagon assessments.
The longer-range ATACMS missiles, first delivered to Ukraine in October 2023 and authorised for strikes inside Russia in November 2024, extended the reach to 186 miles (300 km).
Former Commander-in-Chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi later described the 2022 strikes as the moment Ukraine “broke the enemy’s logistical backbone in the south”.
Estonian officers have stated that the new HIMARS launchers and ATACMS missiles are intended to replicate that effect on NATO’s eastern flank, namely neutralise Russian rear-area concentrations in the opening hours of any conflict before forces can cross the border.
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