| Welcome to the weekend issue of Brussels Edition, Bloomberg’s daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union. Join us on Saturdays for deeper dives from our bureaus across Europe. TALLINN — In late April, the 193-meter Hartland Point cargo vessel pulled into a harbor in northern Estonia after a 48-hour journey, disgorging equipment for hundreds of soldiers from the British Army’s Yorkshire-based combat brigade nicknamed the Black Rats. It was the first test of a new rapid deployment maneuver, a key element of response plans should the Baltic nation face a grave threat. The brigade, which joined up with the UK’s largest troop deployment stationed abroad, arrived for a three-week military exercise in Estonia involving 16,000 troops and around a dozen NATO countries.  The Merchant Vessel Hartland Point. Photographer: Joel Rouse/ROYAL NAVY As part of the drills, civilians in 22 towns across Estonia will hear a nationwide air raid siren system being tested for the first time next Wednesday. The war games aim to shore up defenses in the country of 1.3 million people, nervous over its neighbor Russia’s intentions as the three-year invasion of Ukraine wears on. Estonia, which said last month it would be willing to contribute soldiers to a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine, has warned of Vladimir Putin’s wider demands that NATO pull back its membership to its 1997 boundaries. Estonia joined in 2004. Russia has also announced plans to significantly increase its military presence in the Baltic region in the coming years. Estonia has responded by raising defense spending to wartime levels at an average of 5.4% of gross domestic product, having already doubled its defense budgets since 2022.  Estonia has raised defense spending to wartime levels. Photographer: Paulius Peleckis/Getty Images A glimpse of these developments could be caught at the Amari air base last week. The Ukrainian military’s An-124 Ruslan transport plane, one of the largest aircraft ever built, had arrived carrying six M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, each weighing over 10 tons, after being manufactured by Lockheed Martin in Arkansas. The rocket launchers, which can hit targets 300 kilometers (186 miles) away, will be tested in live-fire drills this summer. US forces from Oklahoma and elsewhere have been in Estonia, training local troops to use the weapons systems since 2022. Fellow Baltic nations Latvia and Lithuania are also in the process of acquiring HIMARS capabilities. “It’s a pivotal moment in the defense of Estonia and NATO deterrence,” US Army Major General John Rafferty said at the unveiling ceremony at Amari. Despite lingering doubts about President Donald Trump’s commitment to Europe’s defenses, the top US diplomat in Tallinn noted that US military assistance to Estonia has tripled over the past few years. Matthew Wall, the US charge d’affaires, hastened to add that Estonia has matched the US commitment “multiple times over” with purchases of US equipment. — Ott Tammik, Estonia reporter | 
