Estonian explosives manufacturer Odin Defence and Lithuanian defence technology company RSI Europe have been selected for €29.5M in European Union funding for RagnaRasa, a joint project that will make drone warhead components in Estonia and finish the weapons in Lithuania.
The European Commission announced the award on 14 October as part of a €168.2M package for eight projects under the first call for energetic components in the European Defence Industry Programme, according to its official communication. RagnaRasa was one of 83 proposals submitted by companies in 23 member states and Norway, and the only funded project with a production partner in Estonia.
Odin Defence’s part of the warhead chain
Odin Defence will establish production at the Ermistu defence industry park in Pärnu County, where it will manufacture warheads and explosive components. RSI Europe takes on final assembly, testing and qualification at its own facilities in Lithuania, so the energetic-materials step sits in Estonia and the qualification of the finished round in Lithuania.
The output targets attached to the funding apply to the eight projects combined: from 2027 the Commission expects them to cut manufacturing lead times by up to 90% and reach annual production of 200,000 loitering munition warheads, 20,000 tonnes of energetic materials, 3,500 drone and missile propulsion systems and 60 million rounds of ammunition. The same group is expected to draw €1.26B in industrial investment across 17 production sites in 14 member states and Norway.
“RagnaRasa is the next step in building our industrial capacity and regional defence capability, connecting essential components manufacturing in Estonia with final product assembly, testing and qualification in Lithuania,” said Tomas Milašauskas, RSI Europe’s chief executive and co-founder.
Four tenants at a state-built park
Ermistu is Estonia’s first industrial park built specifically to make ammunition. The Estonian Centre for Defence Investments has signed agreements with four manufacturers to build there: Nitrotol, Frankenburg Technologies, Infinitum Strike and Odin Defence, which is registered in Estonia as a subsidiary of the British company Thor Industries and was founded by military engineering specialist Lee Thornhill.
The state is investing more than €50M in core infrastructure at the site, including roads and power networks, with the tenants’ own investments expected to be of a similar scale, the centre said when it confirmed the four tenants.
RSI Europe develops and manufactures FPV drone systems, remote-initiation technology and warheads, and operates in Germany, Poland and Ukraine. It also provides operator training and battlefield systems integration for Ukrainian, NATO and allied forces. Neither company has published a construction timetable, an output target for the Ermistu plant or a date for the first completed warheads.
The European Defence Industry Programme has a total budget of €1.5B, of which more than €700M is earmarked for expanding production capacity in member states, Norway and Ukraine.
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