Finnish Defence Forces
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| Armed forces of Finland | |
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| Military manpower | |
| Military age | 18 years of age for voluntary and compulsory military service (October 2004) |
| Availability | males age 18-49: 1,121,275 females age 18-49: 1,076,684 (2005 est.) |
| Fit for military service | males age 18-49: 913,617 females age 18-49: 875,689 (2005 est.) |
| Reaching military age annually | males: 32,058 females: 30,519 (2005 est.) |
| Expenditure | |
| Euro figure | €2.1 billion (FY06) |
| US Dollar figure | $2.8 billion (FY06) |
| Percent of GDP (2007) |
1.3% (FY06) |
The Finnish Defence Forces (Finnish Puolustusvoimat; Swedish Försvarsmakten) is a cadre army of 16,500, of which 8,700 professional soldiers (officers), with a standard readiness strength of 34,700 people in uniform (27,300 army, 3,000 navy, and 4,400 air force) at time of peace. Finland's defence budget equals about 1.4% of the GDP. A universal male conscription is in place, under which all men above 18 years of age serve from 6 to 12 months. However, inhabitants of Finland's Åland islands and Jehovah's Witnesses are exempt. Also a 13-month-long non-military service is possible. Finnish law requires that men, who do not want to serve the defense of the country in any capacity (so called total objectors) be sentenced to a prison term of 197 days. As of 1995, women were permitted to serve on a voluntary basis. The defence is based on a large trained reserve. During the Cold War, Finland could have mobilized 490,000 reservists in a conflict, but this number has since been reduced to some 350,000 due to ongoing budget cuts.
The Finnish Defence Forces are under the command of the Chief of Defence, who is directly subordinate to the President of the Republic in matters related to the military command. The current Chief of Defence is Admiral Juhani Kaskeala.
Military doctrine: Self-defensive; independent defence of all of domestic territory; NATO Partnership for Peace affiliate; committed to pan-European (incl. Russia) treaty of trust-enhancing cooperation, such as providing access for international observers during major exercises.
In 2005 the Finnish defence ministry announced a cost-cutting plan. The Helsinki Air Defence Regiment in Hyrylä and the Savo Brigade in Mikkeli will be disbanded in 2007. At the same time Kotka Coastal Command will be disbanded and its duties will be taken over by other units.
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[edit] Military branches
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- Finnish Army (Maavoimat)
- Finnish Navy (Merivoimat)
- Finnish Air Force (Ilmavoimat)
The Border Guard (Rajavartiolaitos) is under the Ministry of the Interior but can be incorporated into the Defence Forces when required by defence readiness.
[edit] Military Ranks
The Finnish military ranks follow the Western usage in the officer ranks. As a Finnish peculiarity, the rank of lieutenant has three grades: 2nd lieutenant, lieutenant and senior lieutenant.[1] The 2nd lieutenant is a reserve officer rank, active personnel beginning their service as 1st lieutenants.
The basic structure of the NCO ranks is a variant of the German rank structure, but the rank system has some peculiarities due to different personnel groups. The duties carried out by NCOs in most Western armed forces are carried out by
- warrant officers serving in the ranks from lieutenant to captain
- career NCOs serving in the ranks from enlistee (sotilasammattihenkilö), seargeant, staff seargeant, warrant officer, senior warrant officer and chief warrant officer (sotilasmestari)
- contractual military personnel (sopimussotilas) serving in the ranks of lance corporal, corporal, seargeant and second lieutenant
- conscripts in the ranks of corporal, officer student, seargeant and officer cadet.
In a case of war, most of the NCO duties would be carried out by reserve NCOs who have received their training during conscription.
The rank and file of the Finnish Defence Forces is composed of conscripts serving in the ranks of private, lance corporal and NCO student.
[edit] History
The autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland had its of standing army and its own system of conscription. The Guard of Finland fought alongside the imperial army in several of Russia's wars. Russification efforts after 1899 resulted in dodging of the draft and later in the abolishment of conscription.
During World War I Finnish volunteers secretly joined the Imperial German army to receive military training. These Finnish Jäger troops arrived in February 1918 in the white capital city of Vaasa and formed the core of the White Army in the Finnish Civil War.
The Russian revolutions had caused the creation of Red and White Guards in Finland. On January 25, 1918 the White Guard were declared to be the official troops of the white government. This marks the formation of the armed forces of the independent Finland.
After the Finnish Civil War the armed forces were organised according to the German system. In February 1919 the White Guard separated from the armed forces and became an independent organisation.
Finnish Defence Forces fought in two wars against the Soviet Union (Winter War and Continuation war) and then against Germany (Lapland War) in the Second World War.
Peace terms in the Continuation War included disbanding the White Guard.
[edit] Restrictions on armaments
The Paris Peace Treaty after the Continuation War limited the strength of the Finnish Army to 34,400 men, the Navy to 4,500 men and the maximum displacement of naval ships to 10,000 tonnes. The Air Force was limited to 3,000 men and 60 planes. Also certain weapons such as guided missiles, submarines, proximity mines, torpedo boats, bombers with internal bomb racks and any weapons of German origin were forbidden. In the 1960s, Finland was allowed by United Kingdom and Soviet Union to buy "defensive" missiles. This enabled the requisition of antitank, antiaircraft and coastal defence missiles. After the unification of Germany in 1990, all of the restrictions, except for the ban on nuclear weapons, were unilaterally renounced by the Finnish government, led by president Mauno Koivisto.
[edit] Peacekeeping operations
Finland has taken part in UN peacekeeping operations since 1956, (the number of Finnish peacekeepers who have served since 1956 amount to 43,000). In 2003 over a thousand Finnish peacekeepers were involved in peacekeeping operations, including UN and NATO led missions. According to the Finnish law the maximum simultaneous strength of the peacekeeping forces is limited to 2000 soldiers.
Since 1996 the Pori Brigade has trained a special jäger battalion, the Finnish Rapid Deployment Force (FRDF), which can take part in crisis management operations at short notice.
Finnish participation and number of personnel in peacekeeping operations as of 2006:
- EUFOR in Bosnia-Herzegovina (180)
- KFOR in Kosovo (400)
- UNMIK in Kosovo (2) + civilians (policemen)
- UNFICYP in Cyprus (3)
- UNMIL in Liberia (2)
- UNTSO in Egypt, Israel, Lebanon and Syria (15)
- UNMEE in Ethiopia and Eritrea (7)
- ISAF in Afghanistan (105)
- UNMOGIP in India and Pakistan (45, + 70 civilians)
- UNIFIL in Lebanon (250 engineers)
Source: www.mil.fi
[edit] Total defence
The Finnish military doctrine is based on the concept of total defence. The term total means that all sectors of the government and economy are involved in the defence planning. In principle, each ministry has the responsibility for planning its operations during a crisis. In a war, all resources of the society may be diverted to serve the national survival. The legal basis for such measures is found in the Readiness Act and in the State of Defence Act, which would come into force through a parliamentary decision in a case of a crisis.
The main objective of the doctrine is to establish and maintain a military force capable of deterring any potential aggressor from using Finnish territory or applying military pressure against Finland. To accomplish this, the defence is organised on the doctrine of territorial defence. The stated main principles of the territorial defence are
- military non-alliance,
- general conscription,
- territorial defence,
- training of conscripts for wartime units,
- dispersed mobilisation and
- flexible readiness responding to military threats of various degree.
The defence planning is organised to counteract three threat situations:
- A regional crisis that may have effects on Finland.
- Political, economic and military pressure, which may include a threat of using military force and its restricted use.
- Use of military force in the form of a strategic strike or an attack beginning with a strategic strike aimed at seizing territory.
In all cases, the national objective is to keep the vital areas, especially the capital area in Finnish possession. In other areas, the size of the country is used to delay and wear down the invader, until the enemy may be defeated in an area of Finnish choosing. The Army carries most of the responsibility for this task. The war-time army is combined of
- three readiness brigades
- six jaeger brigades
- several infantry brigades
- specialized units under general staff
- local defence units
The army units are mostly composed of reservists, the career soldiers manning the command and specialty positions.
The role of the Navy is to repel all attacks carried out against Finnish coasts and to safeguard the territorial integrity during peace time and the "gray" phase of the conflict. The maritime defence relies on combined use of coastal artillery, missile systems and naval mines to wear down the attacker. The Air Force is used to deny the invader the air superiority and to protect most important troops and objects of national importance in conjunction with the ground-based air defence. As the readiness of the Air Force and the Navy is high even during the peace-time, the career personnel have a much more visible role in the war-time duties of these defence branches.
The Border Guard has the responsibility for border security in all situations. During a war, it will contribute to the national defence partially integrated into the army, its total mobilized strength being some 22.000 troops. One of the projected uses for the Border guard is the guerrilla warfare in the areas temporarily occupied by enemy.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Finnish Defence Forces website
- Finnish Peacekeeping Operations (in Finnish)
- Finnish Contribution to Peacekeeping
[edit] References
- ^ Finnish Defence Forces: Insignia of rank Retrieved 2/14/2007
- ^ The whole of the section is based on leaflet: Finnish Defence Forces. Annual exchange of information on defence planning 2005 according to the Vienna Document 1999. [1] Cited 14-12-2006. Also the leaflet: Finnish Defence Forces. Finnish military defence, Finland's security policy, Organization of national defence. [2] has been used
