The State Defense Investment Center of the Ministry of Defense of Estonia (Riigi Kaitseinvesteeringute Keskus - RKIK) announced that on March 8, 2023, it signed a contract with the Israeli company Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) for the purchase of about 1,000 single Negev NG7 machine guns chambered for NATO 7.62 x 51 mm. The machine guns are intended for the Estonian Armed Forces and for the Kiteselite, deliveries should begin from the end of 2023.
The Israeli IWI Negev NG7 single machine gun purchased by Estonia is chambered for NATO 7.62 x 51 mm (c) RKIKThe choice of Negev NG7 was made by Estonia based on the results of a tender in which six companies participated with their proposals.
In the Estonian army, the new machine guns will replace the currently used single MG3 and KSR-58 machine guns (the Swedish version of the MAG machine gun) for the same cartridge. Negev NG7 machine guns for Estonia will be slightly modified according to the requirements of RKIK, including changing the shape of the handle, increasing the extension range of bipods and installing a heat shield on the barrel. The full weight of the loaded machine gun will be 8.8 kg.
In the 1990s, Estonia had already purchased 200 Negev machine guns in Israel, an early version of the Negev NG5 variant, in manual execution, chambered for NATO 5.56x45 mm.
The Israeli IWI Negev NG7 single machine gun purchased by Estonia is chambered for NATO 7.62 x 51 mm (c) RKIK
