France to send five Leclerc main battle tanks with 12 VBCI infantry fighting vehicle and 300 troops to Estonia in 2017.

The deployment was confirmed by the French defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, to his Estonian counterpart, Hannes Hanso, at a meeting of the security forum in Halifax, Canada.

“Jean-Yves Le Drian (French Defense Minister) assured  Hannes Hanso (Estonian Defense Minister) that Paris would send to Estonia 300 soldiers, five Leclerc main battle tanks and infantry combat vehicles next year,” the ministry’s statement said.

He also said Estonia and France had a significant bilateral cooperation in cyberspace as both countries had “significant capabilities” in the field and the challenges both countries faced were similar. The two ministers signed a bilateral cyber cooperation agreement in May 2016.

The French armoured unit is to serve in Tapa under the command of the British NATO battalion.