Earlier this week both Sweden and Finland agreed to cooperate together on a military level. Central in this cooperation is the creation of a joint naval task force and mutual access to each other’s naval bases. Aside from the Russian navy, the Swedish navy is already the most powerful in the Baltic Sea and yet, by teaming up with the Finnish navy it would further strengthen the Swedish navy as well as the Finnish.
We already described the Swedish navy on The Naval Report and in an earlier post over Finland we briefly. Both articles van be found here:
Swedish navy
The Swedish navy is a decent green water navy that is equipped for fighting in the Baltic Sea. The main units of the Swedish navy are the five diesel-electric submarines divided in two classes. The three submarines of the Gotland class are the most modern among these five and are currently being overhauled in order to maintain their combat capabilities. The two older submarines of the Södermanland class however will be retired around 2020. Unless Sweden starts to build new submarines or buy them from abroad, the Swedish submarine strength in the Baltic Sea can be expected to drop by 40%.
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| Visby class corvettes |
On the surface Sweden can count on five corvettes from the Visby class. These stealthy corvettes are more than capable to enforce Swedish sovereignty in Swedish territorial waters and are well equipped to counter the frigates of the Russian Baltic Fleet. A problem for Sweden is that it will retire four corvettes of the Stockholm class and the Götenborg class in the next decade. Sweden does plan to build two K-40 corvettes by 2025 to compensate for the loss of the Götenborg class ships. The K-400 will be a frigate sized Visby class.
Table I sums up the Swedish naval strength both present as for the next decade.
| 2015 | 2025 | |
| Submarines | 5 | 3 |
| Corvettes | 8 | 6 |
Finnish navy
Finland, unlike Sweden, does not operate a large navy. The focus of this navy is on patrol boats and mine-countermeasures. 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 older Rauma class ships are still in good shape but in the next decade or two these ships will be in need of replacement and it will be interesting to see if Finland will find the means to replace them in spite of defence budget cuts.
More troublesome are the Finnish minesweepers. This force of currently 10 minesweepers is about to be decommissioned in the next decade. Finland however is taking steps to replace its mine-countermeasure fleet. Three new mine-countermeasure (MCM) 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. Even despite the fact that these vessels are more modern and capable then teir predecessors, a drop from ten to just three ships is big. It is unknown at the moment if Finland plans to further modernize and expand its MCM fleet.
Table II sums up the current prospect of the Finnish Navy
| | 2015 | 2025 |
| Patrol boats | 8 | 4 |
| MCM vessels | 10 | 3 |
Swedish Finnish naval cooperation
Maritime cooperation between Sweden and Finland has several benefits for both countries. The first and most obvious one is the fact that both countries can rely one more naval vessels to protect their maritime interests as well as preserving their maritime presence in the Baltic Sea. Both navies are in decline by the 2025 timeframe unless new ship building programs are approved.
The drop in this combine strength for the major naval units can be seen in Table III:
| | 2015 | 2025 |
| Submarines | 5 | 3 |
| Corvettes | 8 | 6 |
| Patrol boats | 8 | 4 |
| MCM vessels | 10 | 3 |
| Total | 31 | 16 |
Access to each other’s naval bases does alter the strategic balance of naval power in the Baltic Sea. This is especially true for Sweden. Sweden will be able to sustain operations in the Gulf of Finland longer and with a faster turnaround time once it can operate out of Finnish Naval bases, thereby creating a bigger maritime treat against Saint-Petersburg, a vital post city for the Russian economy.
Both navies also strengthen each other in naval capabilities. Swedish corvettes and submarines can be used to blockade Saint-Petersburg far more effective than the Finnish Navy can while Finland can offer patrol boats that can perform sub hunting operations along Swedish long coast. Also a fleet of MCM vessels is useful to Sweden as this country is not strong in mine-countermeasure operations.
It should also be noted that this is not the first time two EU countries team up their naval forces into a joint command. Both the Belgian and Dutch navies have been under a joined command for several years now and these two countries are often cited as an example of how to integrate the armed forces of several EU nations under a joint command. Both Sweden and Finland would be wise to study the many lessons that the Belgian-Dutch cooperation offers. This will allow both countries to make a faster start as aa vital learning process can be shortened and mistakes made by the Belgian-Dutch cooperation are not to be repeated.
Also remarkable, even though it is only the second time EU members create a joint naval command, is the fact that this move can spark the beginning of more joint-military commands among several other EU members. In the end, a successful Swedish-Finnish military cooperation might even the path for a further military integration of EU armies, thereby coming one step closer to the creation of a unified EU army.
