Nordic Investment Bank backs Estonian drone research hub

The Nordic Investment Bank is putting serious money behind Estonia’s growing drone ambitions, signing a EUR 11.4 million loan agreement with Metrosert AS to help build a new Drone Technology Unit at the country’s Applied Research Centre in Tallinn, as reported by Defence Industry.

The financing runs over ten years and supports laboratories dedicated to developing, testing, and validating unmanned systems, with most of the work focused on defence related applications. The facility is expected to become fully operational by the summer of 2027.

A defence focused testing ground for unmanned systems

The Drone Technology Unit is designed as a multidisciplinary research and validation hub covering unmanned aviation, secure communications, navigation systems, flight physics, and hardware security. Its scope extends beyond aerial drones, also supporting ground based and maritime unmanned platforms.

The project is part of a broader, government backed initiative to strengthen Estonia’s national research and development capacity in strategically important technologies. While the unit will support civil and dual use projects, defence driven research and testing are expected to dominate its activity.

According to the Nordic Investment Bank, the facility responds to growing regional demand for realistic testing environments for military grade drones and autonomous systems.

The goal is to shorten development cycles and help companies bring mature, reliable systems to market faster.

Investment scale and regional ambitions

The total cost of establishing the Drone Technology Unit between 2025 and 2027 is estimated at EUR 17.4 million. This sits within a wider EUR 42.9 million investment plan for the entire Applied Research Centre.

NIB President and CEO André Küüsvek said the unit will provide companies across the Nordic Baltic region with a platform to accelerate product development, calling it an essential step in strengthening regional defence and resilience.

Metrosert’s Head of the Drone Technologies Unit, Rainer Kivimäe, emphasized that combining scientific expertise, state of the art laboratories, defence driven use cases, and strong industrial partnerships will allow unmanned systems to be validated and matured faster and more reliably. He described the project as a major milestone toward building a coordinated, world class drone ecosystem in Estonia and the wider region.

Metrosert and NIB strengthen Estonia’s tech position

Metrosert AS is Estonia’s national metrology institute and a state owned research and technology organisation. It employs around 130 specialists and works across drone technologies, autonomous vehicles, hydrogen solutions, biorefining, and health data systems.

The Nordic Investment Bank is owned by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden. Headquartered in Helsinki with a regional hub in Riga, NIB finances projects that improve productivity and environmental performance across the Nordic Baltic region, and holds top tier AAA credit ratings.

DroneXL’s Take

This investment quietly says a lot about where Europe sees the future of drones heading. Estonia is positioning itself less as a drone manufacturing hub and more as a validation and testing backbone for defence focused unmanned systems, which may prove even more strategic.

As military and dual use drones grow more complex, controlled environments for stress testing, security validation, and lifecycle analysis are becoming just as valuable as the aircraft themselves. If executed well, this facility could make Estonia a critical checkpoint in the European drone supply chain rather than just another innovation lab.

Photo credit: Metrosert AS