Estonia, Latvia, Markets and Companies, Security

Separate tenders were held as part of the joint procurement for bio-degradable and multiple use practice hand grenades. In the former, the contract was awarded to Bristol Trust OU, a member of the Estonian Defense Industry Association. In the latter tender Bristol Trust OU and Rheinmetall Waffe Munition ARGES GmbH were declared successful offerors.

Ramil Lipp, armament category manager at the Estonian Center for Defense Investment, described cost-effectiveness as the advantage of repeat use hand grenades, as the same body is used several times, with additional costs incurred in the future only for the purchase of fuses. 

"A multiple use practice hand grenade is ideally suited for the conduct of hand grenade exercises in a controlled environment specially designated for it," Lipp said.

In the single use hand grenades to be bought under the agreement bio-degradable materials are used that will degrade in the environment after the use of the grenade, reducing the impact of military training exercises on the environment. The bio-degradable grenades will be used in exercises mainly on terrain.

The framework agreement that is aimed at combining the amounts of grenades to be ordered and reduce procurement costs is valid for seven years.

The joint procurement of practice hand grenades comes as another in a series of successful joint procurements of the Baltic countries in national defense conducted since 2018. In 2020, Estonia and Latvia jointly procured Carl-Gustav M4 grenade launchers.