Finnish Armed Forces
Since 2023, Finland has been a member of the NATO military bloc.
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Main article: Finland
2024
Number of military personnel: 271,750
Transfer of decommissioned speed boats "Uisco" to Ukraine
In March 2024, Romania reported that the Finns had handed over Uisco-type high-speed boats to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
These watercraft withdraw from the Finnish troops, therefore it was decided to transfer them to Ukraine. They can reach speeds of up to 65 km/h, equipped with a machine gun and grenade launcher.
2023
Defense spending - 2.4% of GDP
Transfer of 15 US military bases in exchange for protecting Finland
In December 2023, the United States entered into a defense cooperation agreement with Finland, a new NATO member, which will allow the United States to gain access to strategic military bases in the Scandinavian country. This agreement means that the United States is committed to protecting Finland in the event of an attack on it.
The agreement allows the United States to store weapons in Finland.
The United States gains access to 15 military bases in Finland.
Among the facilities is the Rissala Karelia Air Command Air Base, from which there are only 137 km to the border with the Russian Federation.
Agreement with Israel on the supply of the David Sling missile defense system
Finland will be armed with the Israeli missile defense system "David's Sling." The agreement, which Israeli Defense Ministry Director General Eyal Zamir called "historic," was signed on November 12, 2023.
Information about the Finns' plans to acquire David's Sling appeared six months ago: the Finnish defense department was interested in acquiring an air defense system capable of intercepting targets at an altitude of up to 15 kilometers. The Israeli Barak MX system was also considered for acquisition, but the choice was not made in its favor.
At the same time, in April 2023, David's Sling manufacturing companies (Israeli Rafael and American Raytheon) announced their readiness to "participate in the integration of the system and the development of command and control elements."
Joining NATO amid conflict in Ukraine
In April 2023, Finland became a member of NATO.
Russia will be forced to take retaliatory measures of both a military-technical and other nature in order to stop threats to our national security arising in connection with Finland's entry into NATO, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Strengthening the northwestern borders of Russia will depend on the degree of integration of Finland into the alliance: the deployment of troops, strike weapons systems. After increasing the line of contact of the alliance with the borders of the Russian Federation, the situation in Northern Europe will change dramatically.
Finland has become one of the small, non-decisive NATO member countries, having lost its special voice in international affairs.
Finland's accession to NATO cannot but negatively affect Russian-Finnish bilateral relations.
Air Force unification with Sweden, Norway and Denmark
In March 2023, the Air Force of the four Scandinavian countries agreed that its 250 fighters would operate as a single fleet.
The commanders of the Air Force of Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark signed a declaration of intent on March 16 to deepen cooperation, the Finnish and Danish Air Force said in statements.
Cooperation will include integrated command and control, operational planning and execution, flexible force deployment, joint airspace surveillance and training.
200 Leopard tanks in service
2021: Finland joins JEF
In April 2021 Finland she joined. JEF