Estonia is to host a defence industry themed event Estonian Defence Week

Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association (EKTL) in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence, is organizing the first-ever Estonian Defence Week in September, bringing together domestic and international defence industry companies, investors, specialists, and policymakers. The week begins with an event organized by the NATO DIANA Estonian accelerator.

Estonian Defence Week will take place from 22 to 26 September at both Tallinn’s Kultuurikatel Creative Hub and Tartu Ülenurme Airport. For the first time in Estonia, this large-scale themed event will introduce Estonian and regional defence industry companies, their products, and developing technologies over five days. The focus will be on fostering cooperation, establishing investor relations, and hosting discussions on defence industry and security policy with both domestic and international experts.

“The Estonian defence industry has firmly proven itself – several of our companies daily contribute to winning the war on the frontlines in Ukraine, and innovative solutions developed in Estonia are gaining increasing interest from Australia to America. Therefore, it is important that Estonia hosts its own major defence industry event, just as is customary elsewhere in the world,” said EKTL’s CEO Kalev Koidumäe. “The goal of Estonian Defence Week is to consolidate all events related to Estonia’s defence and security sector into one week and, in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence, establish it as an annual meeting place for entrepreneurs, investors, and opinion leaders shaping defence industry policy.”

“While Estonian entrepreneurs have so far attended various fairs around the world, if we are serious about developing the defence industry, it is critically important that we are also able to introduce defence industry products in Estonia. This event will bring together suppliers and purchasers, as well as, for example, those who wish to invest in the Estonian defence industry,” said Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur. “It is an opportunity for us as a country to demonstrate what we can offer to the defence sector.”

Estonian Defence Week will begin with a day dedicated to startups in the security and defence sector, organized by the Tehnopol Startup Incubator’s NATO DIANA Estonian accelerator (Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic).

The programme will also feature the annual Baltic Defence Conference ABCD (23–24 September), where over two days politicians, military officials, academics, analysts, and media representatives will discuss NATO and EU defence issues.

The week’s central events will include the Estonian Defence Industry Symposium “The Power of Disruption” (25 September) and “Tallinn Defence EXPO” (24–25 September) at Kultuurikatel, featuring presentations, panel discussions, and working groups on military technologies.

The Defence Week will conclude with a demo day for specialists in Tartu (26 September), showcasing various defence sector technologies.

A more detailed event overview is available here.

Founded in February 2009, the Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association (EKTL) currently brings together over 150 companies covering all key defence industry sectors. The association aims to create better opportunities for its member companies in developing and marketing defence technologies and to serve as a strategic partner to the Estonian state in strengthening national defence as well as contributing to economic growth.

Photos by Kaarel Tigas from the Estonian defence industry demo day held for foreign journalists during the Joint Expeditionary Force Summit in Tallinn in December last year.