Finland never joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to maintain its neutrality. Finland found itself in an isolated position when NATO was founded in 1949. Surrounded largely by the Soviet Union the only way to guarantee its independent position was neutrality. Even today, Finland is still a neutral country in order to remain good relations with its powerful neighbour, Russia. But recent events concerning Russia’s aggressive stance have once again started the internal political debate in Finland on whether or not the country should join NATO.
This article examines how Finland could strengthen the NATO alliance if its leaders decide to join it.
Finland is currently decreasing its armed forces. Defence budgets are being lowered and several units are either disbanded or merged. In general this is believed to be a decrease in both wartime as peacetime capabilities. Although conscription is still the main tool of filling the ranks of the Finnish armed forces one has to wonder how long conscription will still be taking place. A couple years ago Sweden stopped the conscription into his armed forces on grounds of economic and political reasons. Finnish conscription is for a duration of six months for regular soldiers, nine for specialist functions and a year for NCO and officer functions.
Although Finland is not a NATO member it is aware that in these modern times most military operations are undertaken internationally. As such the country has already been seeking some ties to NATO and is adopting NATO standardisation. Finland does contribute to the EU battle groups and most EU members are NATO members. So switching to NATO standardisation for better operational cooperation and integration seems a logic move.
Army
Finland’s army is currently being reorganized into a smaller force that should make it more adaptable. By 2015 the army should consists of a total strength of 12.300 people of which 4.300 will be civilians. The professional component should be around 5.000 soldiers, leaving the need for 3.000 conscripts every six months. All Finnish units are not at their battle readiness and would require the mobilisation of reserve to achieve this.
Finland has a strong mechanized force in the form of two armoured battle groups and two mechanized brigades. The main equipment in these forces are 100 Leopard 2A4 tanks as well as 144 BMP-1 and BMP-2 vehicles, 102 CV 90 armoured infantry fighting vehicles and 206 Patria Pasi 6x6 armoured vehicles.
The main strength of the Finnish army lies however in its infantry. Most of Finland is wooded terrain with many streams and lakes. This terrain is unsuitable for mechanized formations and lends itself for small scale infantry tactics. It comes to no surprise that the Finnish army has a substantial knowledge of how to employ asymmetric warfare such as ambushes and hit and run attacks in this forested environment.
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| Finnish long range patrol unit on exercise |
The end strength that the Finnish army hopes to achieve are six light infantry brigades and three Jaeger (hunter) brigades. It must be noted that these nine formations will only reach brigade level when they are staffed with reservists and that their normal peacetime levels are far lower than a brigade size. The Jaeger brigades are among the best units within the Finnish army and they are currently being reformed into readiness brigades with an increased dotation of mechanized vehicles for extra mobility.
Air Force
The Finnish air force has a total strength of 2.700 personnel, 750 of whom are conscripts. In a wartime mobilization this strength would increase to 38.000 personnel. Pilots have an average annual time of 90-140 hours of flying hours.
Finland operates a modest air force of 55 F-18C Hornets that is primarily orientated towards air defence missions. However, Finland is seeking to expand the ground-attack and Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD) capability of its F/A-18 fighters through an ongoing multi-phase Mid-Life update programme. The end goal is to make the Finnish air force fully compatible with NATO standards and capable to operate in multinational forces.
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| Finnish F-18C Hornet Multirole fighter |
Aside from the F-18C Hornets the air force also operates five transport aircraft. Three of these aircraft are Spanish EADS CASA C-295M transport aircraft capable of transporting 71 troops or 48 paratroopers.
Furthermore the air force operates a small amount of trainer aircraft.
In all the Finnish air force is a capable organisation considering the small size of its armed forces. Its main role is to gain air superiority but recently the focus of performing ground attacks is considered to be needed. Finland was not allowed to have ground attack capabilities under a 1948 agreement with the Soviet Union but it started to make this shift in 2012. In March 2012 an agreement was made to supply the the AGM-158 Joint Air-To-Surface Standoff Missile ( JASSM) was approved and all Hornets now in service are due to have been upgraded by the end of 2016.
Finlands budget cuts and reorganisation are also hitting the air force and one of the three fighter squadrons is to be retired from service.
Navy
As a coastal nation Finland operates a small but modern navy. A force of eight patrol boats are the core of the Finnish navy. These are divided in two classes, the Rauma and Hamina class. The Rauma class dates back from the beginning of the 1990s while the four ships of the Hamina class were commissioned between 1998 and 2006. These ships still have several years of service life ahead and the navy is not really hit by the budget cuts in the same way as the army and air force. Still, within the next several years the four ships of the Rauma class will be in need of replacement it will be interesting to see if Finland will purchase new ships or decides to decrease its navy.
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| Hamina class missile boat |
More worrisome are Finland’s minesweepers. Of the Kuha class, commissioned between 1974 and 1975, only four of the six ships are still in service. Given their old age the other four ships will be decommissioned soon. The same story goes for the Kiiski class that was commissioned between 1982 and 1984. Already one of the original seven is decommissioned and the others will follow somewhere between five and ten years.
Finland is however taking steps to preserve its minesweeper force. Three new mine countermeasure ships of the Katapäa class have been ordered in Italy in 2006. These ships are to be operational in 2015 and will serve until the 2040 timeframe. The Katapäa class will replace the older Kuha class.
Coastal defence and mine warfare are the cornerstones of the Finnish navy. The eight missile boats form a decent force to enforce Finnish sovereignty in its own waters. The minesweeper force is in need of replacement and already the first new ships have arrived and will fully join the Finnish Navy in 2015. Aside from sweeping and hunting mines, Finland also has the capability to lay mines, using several vessels, most of them around 23 years old.
Conclusion
Even though Finland operates a small army and is decreasing its armed forces in a new reorganisation it is still capable of strengthening the NATO alliance. First thing to notice is that Finland is already switching to NATO standards in order to integrate itself in multinational coalitions that are mostly made up by NATO members. A direct result is that Finland could integrate itself into NATO with very little effort.
Its army has a special mix in mechanized forces and light infantry. Finnish infantry are well trained and equipped for asymmetric warfare given the Finnish terrain that is mostly isolated woods with rivers and lakes. Their focus is on long range reconnaissance, ambush and small unit tactics.
As for the Finnish air force we can conclude that a force of 55 F-18 Hornets is a force to be reckoned with. The original missions of air defence and air superiority are now being expanded to ground attack as well, improving the overall capabilities of the Finnish air force.
More questionable is the Finnish navy. Although its missile boats are still functional and modern it needs to consider to replace four of them in the next decade. Given the budget restrains Finland currently faces it is too unclear to predict if Finland will replace the four ships of the Rauma class and by what type of ships.
More questions can be asked about the mine countermeasure vessels. Most of these ships are starting to get outdated and new ships will be needed in the next ten to fifteen years, depending on how good these ships can be maintained. A first batch of replacements, the Katapäa class, is already a step in the good direction to keep the Finnish navy up to date. Given the historical fact that mine warfare is something the Russian Navy, Finland’s main adversary at the moment, will use to restract naval movements, a modern mine countermeasure fleet is a must in this region, as shown by the Baltic States navies.
On the more strategic level the prospect of Finland joining NATO opens possibilities as well as troubles. First it would result in further tensions with Russia as it would bring NATO directly to Russia’s northern borders. Control over the Gulf of Finland by NATO would also threaten to cut of Saint Petersburg, one of Russia’s most important cities. Finland joining NATO would only serve as prove to the Russian politicians that NATO wants to isolate Russia and as a result Russia will react more hostile against NATO.
Finland does bring additional opportunities for NATO. First it will force Russia to defended and station troops in the north between Saint Petersburg and Murmansk. This will cause a virtual attrition of Russian troops in the Baltic region. These troops will most likely been taken from troops stationed opposite the Baltic States, thereby decreasing the risk for a Russian invasion that the Baltic States fear. Finland’s air force can also be used to aid in NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission above the Baltic States.
