Finland is preparing to send its fighter jets to monitor the airspace of NATO countries and its ground forces to NATO’s eastern border states. It is about the so-called NATO peacetime missions in which the allies participate.
Preparation is well underway. The defense forces have found out what kind of missions it would be militarily and practically reasonable to go on.
The Government decides on participation. Decisions are expected during the fall.
It is widely estimated from different sources that the air force will probably go on peacetime missions. There is also pressure to send ground forces soldiers, possibly to the Baltics.
If Finland decides to send ground forces as well, employees of the defense forces and reserves will go on the trip. No one will be forced to go abroad, but the troops would be assembled from those willing to leave.
Finland wants to be a good ally
For decades, Finland got used to being responsible for the defense of its own country independently. As a NATO country, it must show that it is a proper ally.
– Participating in these tasks is part of the transition from independent defense to the alliance. Maybe not right away, but soon, says the researcher Tony Lawrence.
Lawrence is the Program Director of Defense Policy and Strategy at the International Defense Research Center of Estonia.
– When you joined NATO, you said that both Finland and Sweden have capable defense forces. On the other hand, Finland is a frontline country, and it makes no sense to weaken Finland’s defense because of the rest of NATO, says Lawrence.
Aircraft from NATO countries have been patrolling the Baltic airspace since Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined NATO in 2004. The countries do not have their own air forces.
The world was different then. Germany did not want permanent NATO forces in the Baltics. This was agreed with Russia. After Russia attacked Ukraine, the agreement practically lost its meaning.
In the researcher’s opinion, the expansion of NATO was not really defense policy at the time, but politics.
– Only after Russia attacked Ukraine did we start thinking about how to properly defend the Baltics, the leading researcher Matt Pesu He says about the Foreign Policy Institute.
A trap wire has been built on NATO’s eastern border
When Russia occupied Crimea in 2014 and started wars in eastern Ukraine, NATO increased air surveillance. In addition to Lithuania, planes started taking off from Estonia.
Also for Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, the other NATO countries began to provide support with fighter jets, which now patrol and train in their airspace.
The Baltic countries began to feel threatened and also wanted permanent NATO ground forces. The United States was the first to bring its own troops to the scene. The first NATO EFP troops were deployed to Poland and the Baltics in 2017.
The EFP forces of the states on the eastern edge (Enhanced Forward Presence) refer to the so-called forces pushed to the front. The researchers designate the forces as trap lines. They try to hold back a possible enemy until troops can come to help from other allied countries.
The 2022 Russian attack on Ukraine launched the next round in NATO of strengthening the defense of the Baltics. Estonia now has around 1,500 soldiers from elsewhere in addition to its own 5,000 soldiers.
NATO countries also took their troops to Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia.
And what is Finland doing?
NATO therefore supports the states on its eastern border with airspace control and ground forces. However, Finland is not asking for peacetime land forces from other countries.
Commander of the Air Force Juha-Pekka Keränen however, considers it possible that in the future Finland could patrol in Sweden and Norway and their planes in Finland accordingly.
Each country is responsible for its national defense, but in the future Finland could take care of the air control of its area together with its western neighbors.
– This gives opportunities to implement our own emergency services in Norway and Sweden, and there would be Norwegians and Swedes respectively in Finland.
According to Keränen, the matter has been considered, but no decisions have been made.
NATO membership has increased the Air Force’s training with other countries even more. The airspace of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is currently being monitored by planes from Spain and Italy.
There are now constant flights between Finland and the Baltic states as well.
– Almost every week, a detachment comes from the Baltics to Finland, or we go over the Baltics to practice cooperation, Air Force Commander Keränen says.
When future peacetime missions are weighed, Finland talks with the host country and the state leading the mission. The Air Force does not decide or speculate on where Finland will send its planes. But Keränen assesses what would be practical.
– The closer, the easier. It remains for the government to decide whether we will do it from Finland or whether we will go to Estonia.
Iceland is also a possible target of air surveillance for Finns.
Sending a few planes abroad requires a lot of staff. Italian machines in Lithuania are operated by 200 people, Norwegian machines in Iceland by 100 people.
Sending the machines would be a big operation
In Bulgaria and Romania, planes from other NATO countries practice and supplement the countries’ own surveillance. The Air Force has also prepared this in case the order goes through.
According to Keränen, we would go to Bulgaria or Romania with a large department for a few months.
Air surveillance alone is an exhausting and one-sided job. That’s why the air force plans to train at the same time, as would be done in Finland.
– We will change our training so that in the future some of it will take place abroad, if we get such tasks, says Keränen.
In this way, part of the air force’s normal operations would move away from Finland.
Controlling the airspace in another country is the same type of task as in the home country. The machines have weapons with which they can defend themselves, but at the same time the aim is to prevent the situation from escalating.
Even if 6–8 planes were elsewhere at a time, according to Keränen, there would still be a sufficient amount of supervision in Finland. Last year, Finland decided to purchase 64 new fighter jets, and with this amount we can take care of our own country.