Unmanned aircraft development and testing

Estonia’s unmanned aviation sector is expanding rapidly, driven by R&D-intensive defense and commercial startups, as well as the current geopolitical situation. Alongside rapid development, several legislative challenges have emerged that prevent companies from testing and bringing products to market at the desired speed. Accelerate Estonia is working with the Estonian public sector as well as private companies to find solutions to the legislative bottlenecks the sector is facing. 

Developing unmanned systems has presented significant regulatory issues, spanning different legislative areas. While exact use cases and therefore legislative challenges differ, we can distinguish two clear legislative areas that seem to be causing common problems for most companies developing unmanned systems: 1) aviation legislation; 2) electronic communications legislation.

Aviation legislation

Flying unmanned aircraft requires clear legislation and the surrounding ruleset is not set by Estonia itself, but comes from EU-wide aviation laws. Companies developing unmanned aircraft usually fall under specific category drone development, which introduces a wide range of regulatory permit options for flying. The more flexible the permit type, the more bureaucracy is involved when applying for it. This can make developing technologies in these rulesets very difficult, especially for companies starting out. (For a more detailed overview on the specific categories of unmanned aircraft, see our analysis on testing in unmanned aviation published at the end of 2025.)

While working together with the sector, we’ve identified a clear commonality of interest – drone developers need testing areas separated from normal air traffic, in which you can operate unmanned aircraft under easier rules. These areas can offer companies the chance to fly their early stage products without having fulfilled all needs of the full regulation yet. At the same time the air space is closed off from other air traffic, and the locations for these test areas are not populated, so possible damage or harm on the ground below is also low. 

Today, four test areas like these are in varying states of development, offering companies easier rules to operate drones. Accelerate Estonia is working with all institutions connected to bringing these test areas to life, to make them best match the needs of the private sector and offer a holistic approach of testing opportunities across the country.

Specialised test areas

• The Estonian Aviation Academy test area in Tartu

A test area still being developed, north of the city of Tartu, with a planned flight area of 10 x 30km and an anticipated maximum height of 2.8km. Companies can use the area without the need for full specific category permits, but need to carry out risk assessments themselves. 

• The Estonian Academy of Security Sciences test area in Väike-Maarja

Operational test area in north central Estonia at the training campus of the Academy of Security Sciences, with a flight area of 11 x 50km and a maximum altitude of 1.5km. Flights need specific operations permits, supported by the academy. Electronic warfare testing capabilities in development.

• Estonian Defence League test area in Nurmsi

The Nurmsi test centre is in operation, used by the Estonian Defence League, Defence Forces and allies, but is also open for research experiments for partnering companies. The test area in central Estonia, east of Paide is a circle of an 11km radius operating under military aviation regulations, meaning simplified conditions.

• Metrosert’s Applied Research Centre test area

Metrosert is planning to open a selection of test areas in Estonia with different functionalities and sizes in mind. In addition the center offers testing solutions for product development and necessary R&D support for developing all kinds of unmanned solutions. A smaller area is planned near Tallinn and a larger flight area in Western Estonia, where BVLOS flying with electronic warfare functionalities will be offered.

More information about the planned test areas can be obtained from a more thorough analysis Accelerate Estonia published at the end of 2025.

Electronic Warfare

A second large developmental area for unmanned aircraft is testing them in the environment of electronic warfare, otherwise known as interfering with the radio signals of the communications equipment. Currently, electronic signal jamming is highly restricted and permitted only for the Estonian Defence Forces and the Police and Border Guard Board in highly regulated situations. However, drone development companies operating in Estonia need to test their products under conditions where radio communication fails. This requires establishing a legal framework that allows electronic communication jamming for product development and testing purposes. 

Accelerate Estonia has worked together with the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs to update the electronic communications act to enable electronic signal jamming for product development and R&D by scientific institutions, who can subsequently offer it as a service to companies. And additionally, allow organisations other than the police and defence forces to carry out signal jamming, and provide this as a service for private companies conducting research and product development. The draft legislative change is prepared and will go to Parliament in the autumn of 2026.

These combined developments will make Estonia one of the most flexible environments in which to develop and test unmanned aircraft. Further work is needed to simplify the regulatory process in non-testing aerial operations, such as service delivery in urban environments and the implementation of U-space areas. Currently the drone sector and therefore regulatory action is focused on defense tech, in which test areas and electronic warfare are priorities. As focus widens to civilian use cases of unmanned aircraft, additional regulatory elements need streamlining to enable novel business ideas and products.