According to a press release published by IAI on October 6, 2021, Estonian Centre for Defence Investment (ECDI) has signed a contract with Proteus Advanced Systems Pte. Ltd., a joint venture company of Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) and ST Engineering Land Systems Ltd. (ST), to equip the Estonian Defence Forces with Blue Spear (5G SSM) missile systems.
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Artist rendering of the Blue Spear (5G SSM) land-to-sea missile system (Picture source: IAI)
ECDI announced that it has reached an agreement for developing Estonian coastal defence capabilities and arming the defence forces with the Blue Spear (5G SSM) land-to-sea missile system.
Proteus Advanced Systems Pte. Ltd., is proud to be selected, following a tender process, to provide the Estonian Defence Forces with advanced anti-ship missile systems.
The project, with tight timescales and encompassing a complex set of requirements, is one of the biggest projects in Estonian defence procurement and definitely the most complex.
Hand in hand with the new capability development in the maritime domain, the contract provides opportunities for the Estonian defence industry.
The Blue Spear missile system is an advanced precision weapon that can operate at all weather conditions, day and night and enables strike capabilities beyond the line of sight, against mobile and stationary targets at sea. The missile’s maximum range is 290km. Blue Spear missiles share a heritage with IAI’s Gabriel missile family system which has been developed over many years.
Gabriel is a family of sea-skimming anti-ship missiles manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The initial variant of the missile was developed in the 1960s in response to the needs of the Israeli Navy which first deployed it in 1970. Since then, variants have been exported to navies around the world. The latest variant, the Gabriel V, is in use by the Finnish and Israeli navies as of 2020.
