Photo: Jesper Sundström/Swedish Armed Forces
Finland will conduct large military drills involving 10 thousand servicemen, jets and ships in the capital region of Uusimaa on November 27, according to the Finnish Defense Forces’s statement.
“Drills are an indispensable part of military training, and they demonstrate our defense capabilities,” the Finnish Army commander Petri Hulkko said in the statement.
The drills are planned to take place in Helsinki, Espoo, Järvenpää, Kerava, Kirkkonummi, Porvoo, Sipoo, Siuntio, Tuusula, and Vantaa. The naval part of the drills will take place in the Gulf of Finland. Leopard 2A6 tanks are to be involved, with XA203 infantry vehicles, CV9030 combat vehicles, naval saboteurs, support ships, coastal defense units and special ops units.
Hornet jets and Hawk jet-powered advanced trainer aircrafts are also to take part in the drills. The drills will take place all over Southern Finland Uusimaa region, including the cities and the capital city, Helsinki.
The drills will be conducted until December 4.
Finland previously conducted the Ruska 17 aviation drills in October of this year, the first time Swedish Air Force personnel and aircraft participated in the exercises. In September, Sweden held an exercise, dubbed “Aurora”, which included troops from France, the US, Nordic and Baltic countries, as well as 19,000 Swedish troops.
This comes as NATO is updating its command structure for the first time since the Cold War. Additionally, as of August 2017, a continuous rotation of about 4,000 US troops were stationed in Eastern Europe, with part of the armored brigade combat team and aviation brigade stationed in the region, citing America’s “commitment to increased assurance and deterrence” and to “keep Russia’s aggression in check”. In September, Russia conducted Zapad war games in Belarus, one of Russia’s biggest military exercises.
