Daily: Finland planning to buy new counter artillery system
Finland is planning to acquire counter artillery radar systems in the coming years, reports the daily Helsingin Sanomat. The paper said the system would be completely new to Finnish Defence Forces.
According to a report in Thursday’s Helsingin Sanomat, Finnish Defence Forces may soon get a completely new counter artillery radar system, an untried system for domestic armed forces.
The daily wrote that officials have observed the effectiveness of the system in targeting and destroying enemy artillery and projectile launchers during the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Russia-backed separatists been using the system in Ukraine.
The Finnish Defence Forces say that system would be new to Finland, but it has been used in other parts of Europe, such as Sweden.
The price tag for the system is expected to run into tens of millions of euros, and Finnish officials plan to send a request for information to the manufacturer during the spring. The final price will be determined by the scope of the system purchased.
Defence Forces artillery inspector Colonel Pasi Pasivirta told the paper that the aim is to fast track the acquisition schedule so that the radar system will be in active use by 2020.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Canadian military trains to respond to Arctic earthquake, Radio Canada International
Finland: Finnish Air force to take part in joint Finnish-Swedish-US military exercises, Yle News
Norway: Norway patrolling Russia’s military activity in Arctic with new intelligence vessel, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Paratrooper exercises over Arctic Russia, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: New security landscape in the Arctic, Radio Sweden
United States: U.S. general says Alaska military cuts not final without Arctic plan, Alaska Public Radio Network
