Ieva Berzina
Senior Researcher National Defence Academy of Latvia
Associate Professor
Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences
Latvia
Cooperation between the US and the Baltic States in defence research and innovation (R&I) is a mutually beneficial two-way street that commenced with the formation of bilateral security relations with the US after the collapse of the USSR. In 1993, the US National Guard’s State Partnership Program established a partnership between Estonia and the Maryland National Guard, Latvia and the Michigan National Guard, and Lithuania and the Pennsylvania National Guard. This provided the necessary networks for cooperation, including defence R&I. US-Baltic defence R&I cooperation intensified with the accession of the Baltic States into NATO in 2004, the development of their respective defence industries and the changing international security situation. The beginning of the US–Baltic Dialogue in 2016 was a significant milestone which addressed a wide range of regional security concerns, including technological solutions.
This cooperation benefits the armed forces, defence industry companies, research centres and other actors on both sides, contributing to overall NATO capabilities. Firstly, joint defence R&I initiatives add to the technical advancement and interoperability of allies so that the armed forces of NATO member countries can effectively communicate and operate alongside one another. For example, a company in Latvia called Exonicus has developed a virtual trauma simulator. It has entered into contracts with the US Department of Defence (DoD), developing a virtual reality trauma simulator for the training of US military medics while developing a version of the simulator which has been adapted for NATO member states with funding also from the European Defence Fund and Latvian Ministry of Defence. Another outstanding example is Estonia's Spacedrip's automated wastewater reuse system, which won second place in the US Army’s xTech Program's xTechInternational 2022 competition.
Secondly, both sides benefit from cross-pollination of creative intellectual solutions for defence R&I. One example of this took place when engineers from Michigan Technical University and Riga Technical University came together to exchange ideas on the construction of vehicles that can move over different terrain. Thirdly, the US is looking to identify places where it can invest. The defence industries in the Baltic States are attractive because their reputation for innovation is growing in the region. In recent years, the governments of the Baltic States have contributed to the enhancement of the legal framework and overall environment to enable the development of the defence industry. Estonia’s Cybernetica is one example of an investment project which received funding from the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency in 2020 to develop privacy-enhancing technology for communication between the public and private sector.
Fourthly, Baltic States defence industry companies are looking for new markets. For example, the UAV Factory, established in Latvia in 2009, merged with Jennings Aeronautics in 2022 and was rebranded as Edge Autonomy. It now has offices in both Latvia and the US. In 2022, Edge Autonomy announced a deal with the US DoD to provide the US Army with Penguin UAVs. The ability of Baltic companies to operate in the US is one of the competitive advantages, increasing support from national governments and providing opportunities on a European scale as well.
Finally, for the US, the Baltic States’ location provides a unique opportunity for developing and testing defence technology in proximity to the strategic threat. An outstanding example is the leading 5G test environment in Europe established at the Ādaži Military Base by Latvian Mobile Telephone (LMT), the Latvian National Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence in 2020. The US is interested in using this 5G test environment because it has several advantages — the development is taking place within the framework of a military base, the presence of the NATO enhanced forward presence battle group which provides a multinational environment, and the opportunity to test scenarios related to interoperability. Latvia can also get the necessary additional support relatively quickly.
The current geopolitical situation has stimulated US-Baltic defence R&I cooperation because the full-scale Russo-Ukraine war has accelerated demand for modernization. The first US-Baltic Defence Industry Day was held in Riga in 2022. The second US–Baltic Defence Industry Day took place in Vilnius, where the US DoD informed participants from Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian industries about opportunities provided by the Foreign Comparative Testing Program and the overall principles involved in doing business with the US DoD.
Cooperation between the US and the Baltic States is also multilateral. For example, Lithuania’s Regional Cyber Defence Centre, “the main platform for cooperation with the US on cyber defence”, was established in 2021. It has five members – the US, Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia, and Poland. Defence R&I cooperation between the US and the Baltic States also occurs through international organizations such as the NATO Allied Command Transformation. The US-Baltic defence R&I partnership has increased and has become more systematic in recent years.