The UK and Estonia will continue to work closely to monitor the implementation of the UK-Estonia Defence Roadmap against the commitments agreed by both nations. Through bilateral policy engagement, officials meet regularly to assess progress against each line of the Roadmap to ensure effective and timely delivery of activity, in accordance with the Governance chapter of the Roadmap. The product of this engagement is a bilaterally-agreed performance review document held at NATO SECRET.

The UK-Estonia Defence Roadmap strengthens NATO's eastern border by deepening bilateral defence cooperation and enhancing NATO's deterrence and defence posture in Estonia. It modernises the UK's Forward Land Forces contribution to NATO through the transition to a Mobile Anti-Armour Force, increases specialist capability and resilience, and expands cooperation on capability development, innovation and interoperability, helping ensure NATO remains prepared to meet evolving security challenges. The UK remains proud to be the Framework Nation of FLF Estonia, and recognises the important role of UK troops in Estonia in defence of the Alliance and the Eastern Flank.

The UK and Estonia jointly wrote the Roadmap, and following signature have communicated the new FLF offer with NATO allies including France, who contribute to FLF Estonia.

The UK-Estonia Defence Roadmap, signed in July 2026, commits the UK and Estonia to deepen cooperation across defence, industry, capability development and military innovation. The Roadmap also provides the opportunity for expanded cooperation on emerging technologies and military innovation, including deeper collaboration on ASGARD, the UK's battlefield digitisation and targeting programme. Discussions with Estonia have identified defence industrial cooperation as a key area for increased collaboration.

The UK government remains in constant communication with UK defence companies to capitalise on opportunities arising from the Roadmap. At the same time, UK industry is also working closely with Estonian MOD, ECDI and Estonian industry on potential opportunities.

The UK-Estonia Defence Roadmap, signed in July 2026, commits the UK and Estonia to deepen cooperation across defence, industry, capability development and military innovation. The Roadmap also provides the opportunity for expanded cooperation on emerging technologies and military innovation, including deeper collaboration on ASGARD, the UK's battlefield digitisation and targeting programme. Discussions with Estonia have identified defence industrial cooperation as a key area for increased collaboration.

The UK government remains in constant communication with UK defence companies to capitalise on opportunities arising from the Roadmap. At the same time, UK industry is also working closely with Estonian MOD, ECDI and Estonian industry on potential opportunities.

The UK-Estonia Defence Roadmap, signed in July 2026, commits the UK and Estonia to deepen cooperation across defence, industry, capability development and military innovation. The Roadmap also provides the opportunity for expanded cooperation on emerging technologies and military innovation, including deeper collaboration on ASGARD, the UK's battlefield digitisation and targeting programme. Discussions with Estonia have identified defence industrial cooperation as a key area for increased collaboration.

The UK government remains in constant communication with UK defence companies to capitalise on opportunities arising from the Roadmap. At the same time, UK industry is also working closely with Estonian MOD, ECDI and Estonian industry on potential opportunities.

The UK continually assesses lessons from contemporary conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, to ensure our forces remain effective and credible. As set out in the UK-Estonia Defence Roadmap, the UK's Forward Land Forces presence in Estonia will transition to a Mobile Anti-Armour Force from April 2027. This evolution reflects lessons on the importance of mobility, dispersion, resilience, uncrewed systems, integrated intelligence and targeting, and networked command-and-control. These changes will deliver a more mobile, survivable and lethal force, better suited to Estonia's operational environment and NATO's defence plans.

The UK-Estonia Defence Roadmap will modernise the UK's Forward Land Forces presence in Estonia to strengthen the defence and deterrence of Estonia as part of NATO. The decision followed extensive analysis, including comprehensive joint wargaming, which showed that the new Mobile Anti-Armour Force will deliver greater operational effect than the current armoured construct. The new force will provide greater mobility, enhanced survivability, greater endurance, and increased lethality resulting in a more capable force better suited to Estonia's operational environment.

The UK-Estonia Defence Roadmap deepens cooperation across defence, industry, capability development and military innovation, and includes the transition of the UK's Forward Land Forces presence in Estonia to a Mobile Anti-Armour Force from April 2027. Activities under the Roadmap will be delivered under financial commitments within the Defence Investment Plan, including significant investment into our Land forces leading to a more capable Forward Land Forces to deliver enhanced deterrence effect in Estonia.

ARX Robotics UK systems were evaluated during a British Army exercise in Estonia in May 2026. The trial provided useful evidence regarding the potential of uncrewed ground systems to enhance situational awareness and support reconnaissance activities.

The Ministry of Defence continues to work closely with the Government of Ukraine on the sharing of knowledge and insights to ensure that our support meets Ukraine's priority requirements and that the Armed Forces of Ukraine is responding effectively to the evolving threat, including from drones and energy weapons.

Due to operational security, we do not comment on specific capabilities.

The United Kingdom remains firmly committed to Estonia as the framework nation for NATO’s forward land forces.

The purpose of the Baltic Military Mobility Area (MMA) is to harmonise procedures for the movement of military personnel and equipment across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The alignment of infrastructure standards and legal authorisations will facilitate the movement of allied forces across the region.

We recognise that the ability to reinforce and sustain forward‑deployed units is essential to the effective delivery of NATO’s defence plans, and that military mobility initiatives are therefore central to collective deterrence and defence.

His Majesty's Government has noted the withdrawal of Finland, Estonia and Poland from the Ottawa Convention. The UK acknowledges and shares concerns about the security environment in the region as a result of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. We also acknowledge that it is the sovereign right of those countries to make this decision. The UK will continue to work to mitigate impacts on vital arms control and disarmament norms, while continuing to engage bilaterally on the actions those States plan to take following their withdrawal.

As a State Party to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (also known as the Ottawa Convention), the UK remains committed to the Convention.

Defence conducts continuous review of all current and planned commitments in accordance with established protocols, ensuring that each task can be fully and appropriately resourced by the single Services. This process incorporates dynamic, ongoing assessment and the allocation of resources as new requirements arise.

Defence’s commitments relating to Ukraine have been appropriately resourced and deconflicted, with no identified concurrency risks affecting the Department’s ability to sustain planned outputs for Operation FIRECREST, Operation CABRIT, or the Joint Expeditionary Force contribution to ARCTIC SENTRY. As operational planning for the Ministry of Defence’s contribution to a ceasefire in Ukraine progresses, any additional requirements will be assessed, deconflicted, and resourced through established mechanisms to ensure Defence continues to deliver the highest standards of operational output.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided to question 81195 on 20 October 2025.

The UK and Estonia maintain a strong defence relationship and have a long history of working alongside each other through Baltic Air Policing, the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), Maritime and Land deployments through NATO and our enduring collaboration on NATO’s Forward Land Forces (FLF). The UK is the Framework Nation for NATO FLF Estonia and maintains a deployment of up to 1,000 UK Armed Forces personnel and saw hundreds of UK personnel rapidly deploy to Estonia earlier this year for Ex HEDGEHOG, which was a full demonstration of Estonia’s National Defence Plan.

The Government will start a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year and has naturally begun engaging with key stakeholders, including charities, trade unions, trade bodies and associations, businesses and local government leaders already. We will continue to engage through the consultation period and beyond to support product delivery.

We expect it to be designed, built and run by in-house Government teams, not outsourced to external suppliers. In the event any specialist external services or expertise are procured to support the delivery of new digital ID, this will be subject to all the usual competitive processes to ensure transparency, and value for the taxpayer.

The Government is also keen to learn from other countries that implemented successful digital ID programmes. The Rt Hon Pat McFadden travelled to Estonia in August to understand more about the Estonian digital ID system.