The Estonian government plans to create a new air threat alert system within six months, enabling citizens to track the movement of drones themselves.
Estonia’s Defence Minister Martin Herem noted that every resident should receive a more detailed picture, rather than just the sound of a siren or a general notification, ERR reports.
According to him, people should be able to see visually exactly where the threat is heading. This will help citizens make decisions for themselves and significantly reduce anxiety levels.
Estonian authorities have drawn on Ukraine’s experience. Dmytro Zhmailo, head of the Ukrainian Centre for Security and Cooperation, explained that in Ukraine alerts are already issued by districts, and work is under way to narrow them further — to smaller territorial units depending on the trajectory of targets. In this way, the state seeks to protect civilian lives while also preventing the Russians from disrupting the country’s work and normal life.
Several options for implementing the project are currently being considered in Estonia. Defence Minister’s adviser Mati Tikerpuu said funding is already in place, and the final cost will depend on the choice of contractor. Development should not be too expensive, as it is a relatively simple software application. The ministry initially plans to create its own app, but later does not rule out opening up some of the data to third-party developers.
In addition, at the beginning of next year Estonia will launch the Cell Broadcast emergency alert system, which is currently being actively tested. It instantly sends notifications to large numbers of people and, if necessary, can trigger an audible signal even on phones set to silent mode. The system allows a specific geographical area to be selected, and messages are received by all subscribers connected to local mobile network towers. Rolling out this technology took time because the software had to be integrated into operating system updates from Google and Apple.