Estonian Navy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Leadership |
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| Naval Headquarters |
| Components |
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Mineships Division |
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Warship Fleet |
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• Naval Infrantry Battalion |
| Installations and fortifications |
| Naval Mine Harbor |
| Naval War Harbor |
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| Ships |
| Present ships |
| Historic ships |
| Structure |
| Uniforms |
| Ranks |
| Raitings |
| Awards, Decorations and Badges |
| Naval awards |
| Naval flags |
| Personnel |
| Admirals and Commanders |
| History |
| History of the Estonian Navy |
| Future of the Estonian Navy |
| Contact |
| Estonian Navy official website |
The Estonian Navy, (in Estonian Eesti Merevägi), listen is the name of the unified naval forces of Estonia. The Navy is the main naval arm of the Estonian Defence Forces.
The size of the military formation in peacetime is about 350. The Navy component of the operational structure consists of a Mine-layer Division and a Divers Division.
The Estonian Navy is responsible for protecting the territorial waters of the Republic of Estonia. In case of a crisis situation the Navy must be ready to defend sea approaches, harbour areas, sea lines of communication and to co-operate with coalition units.[1]
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[edit] The Navy military training
Most of the Estonian Navy officers have been trained in European or US naval academies. In 2003 Estonian Navy established its own Centre of Naval Education and Training (CNET) to train junior petty officers. Each Baltic state shares its limited training resources with the others, for instance Estonia provides communications training in Baltic Naval Communications School in Tallinn and Latvia hosts common Baltic Naval Diving Training Centre in Liepaja.
[edit] Mine warfare
The top priority for the Navy is the development of mine countermeasures capability that is also one of the Navy's peacetime responsibilities: during World War I and II more than 80,000 sea mines were laid in the Baltic Sea. Since 1995 number of mine clearance operations have been carried out in Estonian waters in close co-operation with other navies of the Baltic Sea region in order to find and dispose ordnance and contribute to safe seagoing.[2]
[edit] International co-operation
Since 1995 Estonian Navy ships have participated in most of the major international exercises and operations carried out in the Baltic Sea. Even though it was not until 1993 when the Navy was re-established and despite of the fact that it incorporates one of the smallest fleets in the world, the young crews of the Navy ships have demonstrated excellent interoperability during international exercises and have proved to be equal partners with other navies. From May 2005 to March 2006 EML Admiral Pitka was assigned as the Command and Support Ship of Standing NATO [3] (SNMCMG1) which is part of the NRF maritime capability. ENS Admiral Pitka was the first vessel from the Baltic navies to be part of the force. SNMCMG1 is also one of the main partners of Estonian Navy in NATO.
[edit] BALTRON
In 1998 Baltic Naval Squadron - BALTRON was inaugurated. The main responsibility of BALTRON is to improve the co-operation between the Baltic States in the areas of naval defence and security. Constant readiness to contribute units to NATO-led operations is assured through BALTRON. Each Baltic state appoints one or two ships to BALTRON for certain period and staff members for one year. Service in BALTRON provides both, the crews and staff officers, with an excellent opportunity to serve in international environment and acquire valuable experience in mine countermeasures. Estonia provides BALTRON with on-shore facilities for the staff.
[edit] Equipment
The Estonian Navy uses a small number of different vessels and weapon-systems. Since the restoration of the Estonian Defence Forces on 3 September 1991 and the Estonian Navy on 1 July 1993 the naval force has developed tremendously. Although the Soviet Legacy clean-up and military infrastructure rebuilding has taken most of the defence budget resources away from the Navy the armament and equipment has improved a great deal.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
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