Estonia, Legislation, Security, Transport

Defence Minister Sven Mikser said at the opening of the radar that the new radar provides the Defence Forces with the necessary situational awareness and preliminary warning of dangers, while the radar in Tõikamäe is not only useful for the Estonian state, but also the local government and the local people.

Air Force Colonel Jaak Tarien said that the Tõikamäe radar team is Estonia's eyes and ears, the first line of defence. "This is a battle unit that is ready to defend Estonia, both at the radar post and in the field," said Colonel Tarien.

The Tõikamäe radar, together with the radar opened in the Muhu Island in 2013, complements the Kellamäe radar in Lääne-Virumaa county, North West Estonia, that has operated for a while, and all three radars cover the whole of Estonia and the airspace surrounding Estonia with a single radar image.

A good radar picture of the surrounding air space increases the advance warning time in case of potential crises; proper air surveillance picture is essential for NATO fighter plane flights and operations of various anti-aircraft systems.

Tõikamäe radar increases also peace time flight safety. The Air Traffic Controller Service civilian radars are currently able to see only those planes that are flying with transponders turned on, but the Air Force radars can detect virtually all aircraft.

Tõikamäe radar, together with the other Estonian Air Force radars, are included in the regional air-surveillance system BALTNET that covers Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. BALTNET itself is part of a big system observing the whole NATO airspace.

Estonia acquired the Tõikamäe and Muhu radars in a joint procurement together with Finland from French company Thales-Raytheon Systems Company S.A.S.. Estonia paid for the two air surveillance radars 22.4 million euros, i.e. the price of one radar is approximately 11.2 million euros.