This week, nearly 500 NATO Science & Technology Organisation (STO) Applied Vehicle Technology (AVT) Panel Members are meeting in Tallinn.
The mission of the STO is to strengthen the capabilities of Member States via mutual cooperation in research and development activities and innovation related cooperation, forming workgroups engaged in practical activities to achieve this objective. Each panel organises two meetings each year, during which the panel’s activities and the trends within NATO in the given field are discussed.
The Applied Vehicle Technology Panel is the largest panel in NATO
When opening the meeting of the Applied Vehicle Technology Panel, Minister of Defence Hannes Hanso said that defensive capability cannot be developed without keeping up with scientific and technological developments.
“As a small country, we lack the strength to continuously develop all of the necessary innovative solutions. The solution for us is Estonian researchers joining the international network of defence researchers.
The AVT Panel meeting is taking place in Tallinn for the first time. A series of meetings will last for the entire working week, and during the week researchers from various NATO and Alliance partner countries will be participating in the event.
Estonia has been participating in the STO AVT Panel since 2014. Estonia’s representative is TUT doctoral student Marek Jõeleht, who is also one of the performers of the project “Lightweight armour panels for armouring vehicles” being funded by the Ministry of Defence. Several hundred Estonian researchers are participating in various NATO STO workgroups.
