On January 19, 2023, the Estonian Ministry of Defense announced a new military aid package to Ukraine including a large number of heavy weapons such as FH-70 155mm and D-30 122mm towed howitzers that are worth €113 million.
Citing information from the Estonian Ministry of Defense, the new Estonian military aid will focus on artillery systems and anti-tank weaponry including dozens of 155mm FH-70 and 122mm D-30 towed howitzers, thousands of units of artillery ammunition, support vehicles for the artillery units, and hundreds of grenade launchers Carl-Gustav M2, with ammunition.
In addition, Estonia will continue to provide both basic and specialist training to hundreds of Ukrainian Armed Forces members in 2023.
With this newest package of aid, Estonia has provided Ukraine with military aid in the replacement value of 370 million euros, which makes up about half of the Estonian 2022 defence budget and more than 1% of the Estonian GDP. This places Estonia among the leading countries in providing aid to Ukraine.
The FH-70 is a 155mm towed howitzer artillery piece that was developed by the Italian company Oto Melara, German company Rheinmetall AG and British company Vickers Ltd in the 1970s. The FH-70 was used by a number of countries, including Italy, Germany, and several other European nations, as well as Japan, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia and continue to be in the military inventory of several countries.