The Estonian Air Force was born with the Republic of Estonia. The first Air Force unit was formed on 21 November 1918. This, however, did not yet constitute a separate armed service, but a subunit in the formation of a larger engineering unit. Soon after, the first plane was acquired as booty from the communists – the fighter Farman HF-30 of French origin. Over the course of time, other aircraft were accumulated – mostly, bought on debt. By the end of the War of Independence in 1920, the Estonian armed forces had 44 planes at their disposal. Unfortunately only a few of them were airworthy.
In the period after the War of Independence and before the Soviet occupation (1920–1940) the Estonian Air Force was mainly comprised of three air units based in Tallinn, Tartu and Rakvere. There was an airbase along with the workshops in Tallinn. The flight school and the air defence artillery group operating as a part of the Air Force were also based in Tallinn.
In the first decade of the period of independence in particular, numerous aircrafts were acquired. These included aircraft produced in Germany, France and also Great Britain. The peak number of aircraft was reached in 1932 when 77 mostly up-to-date planes were registered. In the wake of World War II, large-scale commissions were made from Germany and Great Britain, but most of the planes ordered never arrived due to the war. In the 1930s, fairly adequate aircrafts were designed and built in Estonia, too.
As the Republic of Estonia was wiped off the world map in 1940, it brought along a more than 50-year disruption in the history of the Estonian Air Force; yet, both during the war and also after the war, there were Estonians serving in the air forces of Russia (USSR), Germany, the United States, and other countries.
Upon the re-establishment of the Republic of Estonia and the Estonian Defence Forces, re-formation of the Air Force started immediately. In 1994, Colonel Vello Loemaa, currently a retired Major General, was appointed as Commander of the Estonian Air Force.
The Estonian Air Force consists of three elements. The Air Force Headquarters was establishes in 1994, the Air Base in 1997 and the Air Surveillance Wing in 1998.
The former Soviet military air base at Ämari became the airbase of the Estonian Air Force. Between 2008 and 2012 the airbase underwent a complete renovation programme, to such a degree that it could now be considered a new base. Since 1 May 2014, it is the base for the NATO Baltic Air Policing Unit. The air base has its own small flight unit that includes a Soviet-era light transport aircraft An-2, and Robinson R-44 helicopters acquired in 2002. In 2006, the project of L-39 training jets was launched. Currently there are two aircraft of this type at the disposal of the air base.
The Air Surveillance Wing started monitoring the Estonian airspace with radars of Soviet origin. In 2003 a modern TPS-77 radar manufactured by Lockheed Martin was placed into operation at Kellavere radar site and in the spring of 2013, the Ground Master 403 radar manufactured by the ThalesRaytheonSystems was installed on the island of Muhu. In January 2015 a radar station equipped with a radar by the same manufacturer was opened at Tõikamäe near Otepää. In 2000, the Ämari Air Sovereignty Operations Centre, the predecessor of the current Command and Reporting Post, was opened. In 2006, the post achieved fighter controller capacity.
An important step for the Estonian Air Force was joining NATO in 2004. As a result we have a modern and well-functioning airbase, an Air Surveillance Wing in the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System (NATINAMDS), and the Air Force Headquarters functioning efficiently within the framework of NATO.
