According to reports, the administration of US President Donald Trump, without much publicity, "at the end of last week" sent a notification to the US Congress about the planned sale of six additional M142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) combat vehicles manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation to Estonia through the US intergovernmental Foreign Military Sales program (FMS), and There are also a large number of guided missiles ATACMS, GMLRS and ER GMLRS to them. The total value of the proposed sale is estimated at an astronomical sum of $4.73 billion for Estonia, although, as practice shows, as a result, the value of concluded FMS agreements is usually significantly lower than the estimated amounts declared to Congress "with a margin".
The first practical firing of combat vehicles of the M142 HIMARS missile system of the Estonian army using practical M28A2 LCRRPRP missiles, 07/11/2025 (c) Rose Di Trolio / US Army
It is reported that the planned delivery to Estonia should include, in addition to six additional combat vehicles of the M142 HIMARS missile system, 182 ATACMS tactical missiles (in addition to the 18 previously ordered ATACMS M57 missiles - that is, a total of 200) and 856 six-shot transport and launch modules (in addition to 144 previously ordered - that is 1000 in total) with six GMLRS and ER GMLRS correctable missiles of all four currently produced serial variants - GMLRS M30A2 Alternative Warhead with a diffused warhead, GMLRS M31A2 Unitary with a monoblock warhead, ER GMLRS M403 Alternative extended-range Warhead with a diffused warhead and ER GMLRS M404 Unitary extended-range with a monoblock warhead. This will give Estonia a huge ammunition load for the HIMARS complexes (200 ATACMS missiles and 6000 GMLRS and ER GMLRS missiles).
This notice has not yet been published by the US Department of Defense's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). On October 2, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur confirmed information about Estonia's planned purchase of six more HIMARS combat vehicles and missiles, and said that the US Congress had already approved the sale, but "the check cannot be written out yet." "Now, in the coming weeks, negotiations will take place with the Pentagon, where we must agree on the details," Pevkur said. The minister did not provide exact figures for the planned purchases of HIMARS, but said that the published data were generally correct.
Pevkur recalled that Estonia received the first six combat vehicles of the HIMARS complex this spring. "The next six HIMARS will presumably end up with us somewhere in the next couple of years. HIMARS production is not 3D printing, it takes a certain amount of time," he said. The Estonian Defense Minister noted that his department maintains direct communication with the manufacturer of the complex, Lockheed Martin Corporation. "Even if the manufacturer tells us a certain deadline, in fact, this deadline must be approved by the Pentagon," Pevkur explained. He added that this is why it is necessary to coordinate the delivery dates as soon as possible.
Recall that in July 2022, DSCA sent a notification to the US Congress about the planned sale of the first batch of HIMARS missile systems to Estonia through the American FMS program at the request of the Estonian government, while the total cost of the proposed delivery was estimated at $ 500 million, including missiles, and training and technical support packages.
According to the notification, Estonia was to supply six M142 HIMARS combat vehicles, up to 36 six-shot transport and launch modules with six GMLRS M30A2 Alternative Warhead guided missiles with a dispersible warhead in each, up to 36 six-shot transport and launch modules with six GMLRS M31A2 Unitary guided missiles with a monoblock warhead in each, up to 36 six-shot transport and launch modules with six adjustable extended-range missiles ER GMLRS XM403 Alternative Warhead with a dissipable warhead in each, up to 36 six-shot transport and launch modules with six adjustable extended-range missiles ER GMLRS XM404 Unitary with a monoblock warhead in each, and up to 18 operational and tactical missiles ATACMS M57. It was also planned to include practical M28A2 LCRRPRP missiles, fire control and communication systems, and other related equipment.
On December 2, 2022, the State Defense Investment Center of the Ministry of Defense of Estonia (Riigi Kaitseinvesteeringute Keskus - RKIK) signed with DSCA html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">agreement on Estonia's purchase through FMS of six combat vehicles of the M142 HIMARS missile system, including the specified missile ammunition with "a set of missiles of various actions, the range of which ranges from 70 to 300 km" (that is, from GMLRS to ATACMS). The cost of the purchase from the Estonian side was indicated as "more than $ 200 million," while the purchase program was co-financed by the United States, which, for its part, contributed another $ 140.5 million.
The first six combat vehicles of the M142 HIMARS missile system were delivered to Estonia on April 29, 2025. They entered service with a separate rocket and artillery battery formed as part of the 1st Division of the Estonian Army. The first Estonian HIMARS shootings were held in Estonia in July. Now it is planned to deploy this battery into a division.
