What Finland Adds to NATO's Military Arsenal

Finland will on Tuesday become NATO's 31st member and the first country to join the transatlantic alliance since North Macedonia in 2020. With Finland's accession, the bloc will gain a modern military organized with the core task of defending against Russian aggression along an 835-mile shared border.

Finland's accession has been around a year in the making, the country's voters and politicians prompted by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine to jettison long-held neutrality, though cooperation with NATO has always been significant.

"We will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at NATO headquarters," alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels. "It will be a good day for Finland's security, for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole."

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.

Made to Fight Russia

Finland's annual military budget of around $6 billion supports standing armed forces of around 23,000. But the country's system of universal male conscription means Helsinki can expand its military to around 280,000 personnel in wartime, drawing from 900,000 reserves who undertake regular training exercises. Finnish troops have relatively fresh combat experience, with a small number having served as part of the Western coalition in Afghanistan.

Finland already spends just over 2 percent of its GDP on defense, meeting the NATO target set for member states in 2014; a figure that may soon be revised upwards amid deepening tensions with Moscow.

Russia is the cornerstone of Finland's military ideology and system. Defense of the 800-mile forested and swampy border is the priority, with all 5.6 million Finns well aware of the danger given the country was invaded by Russia or the Soviet Union more than once in the 20th century.

The Global Firepower Index ranks Finland's military as the 51st-most powerful in the world. But Finland's unique doctrine and position means it can punch above its weight, focused as it is on devastating mobile artillery use—Finland has more artillery than Germany and France combined—and the use of highly skilled small units to wreak havoc on a much larger invading force.

Matti Pesu, a senior research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, told Newsweek: "Finland is quite capable in its overall capability, but also by providing territory for NATO, Finland's accession will facilitate a better defense of the whole region."

"The Finnish Army and land forces will constitute the backbone of allied land forces in northern Europe," Pesu added.

Tanks and Artillery

Finland possesses around 239 main battle tanks, of which 179 are thought to be ready for service. Among this number are around 100 each of the German-made Leopard 2A4 and Leopard 2A6, similar to the tanks being sent to Ukraine to help Kyiv in its anticipated spring counteroffensive.

Among its thousands of additional armored vehicles are more than 100 Swedish-made CV-90 infantry fighting vehicles, which are also being sent to Ukraine and are considered among the most potent IFVs in the world.

Helsinki excels in artillery firepower. Finland has more than 100 self-propelled artillery pieces, among them 39 South Korean-made K9 Thunders, which is among the most desired guns on the market. Finland also has 29 tracked M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, which—along with their wheeled and more mobile HIMARS cousin—have been helping devastate Russian forces in Ukraine.

"We have significant defensive ability to wage the kind of war that's now taking place in Ukraine," Finland's top commander General Timo Kivinen said in a December interview. "On a per capita basis, we have probably the most fire power in Europe."

Air and Sea

Along with Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, Finland now forms part of NATO's front line with Russia. Helsinki's fleet of 55 U.S.-made F/A-18 Hornets, armed with advanced American munitions including the air-to-air AIM-9 Sidewinder missile and the AGM-158 JASSM air-to-ground cruise missile, will fly above the alliance's northeastern frontier.

Finland's F/A-18s will begin to be replaced with 64 American F-35 fifth-generation fighters in 2026, with the full delivery planned to be completed by 2030. Finland's Lapland region also now offers NATO Europe's largest training area for air combat.

Helsinki's modernizing air force will—especially when combined with those of its Nordic NATO neighbors—present "a formidable combined capability in the north," Pesu said.

Finland has a 2,760-mile coastline on the Baltic Sea, which with Helsinki's accession and Sweden's proposed membership can now be considered a "NATO lake." Finland has the twelfth-largest navy in the world, and its fleet includes eight missile boats and 10 minesweepers.

"It's heavily focused on the immediate borders and on the archipelago," Pesu said of Finland's navy. "But still, it's well equipped for the northern part of the Baltic Sea."

Finnish NATO Bases

Finland's military will now have to shed its generations-old neutrality and self-reliance.

"It will be crucial from the onset to involve more allied troops in Finland's own national exercises," Pesu said. "Learning how to fight wars in the harsh conditions of northern Europe will be vital. And from day one, Finland needs to rehearse and train how to receive allied forces, how to provide so-called 'host nation support.'"

Politicians in Helsinki—where this weekend brought a change of power after Prime Minister Sanna Marin's electoral defeat by conservative challenger Petteri Orpo—will need to decide what they want from the new alliance.

"The Finns are confident but also aware of the potential gaps as well," Pesu said, adding that Helsinki will likely be looking for NATO assistance in air defense capabilities and protection of vital Baltic Sea shipping lanes.

"There is a reason why Finland is joining NATO," he said. "There was an increased understanding in the country that though Finland has capable forces and a full spectrum force, we may lack volume simply because Finland is a small country. And we need a broader reserve of military capabilities that Finland could potentially tap into."

Finns, though in favor of NATO membership, are split on permanent alliance bases in their country. Smaller temporary deployments might be one solution, akin to the multinational Enhanced Forward Presence formations deployed to the Baltic states.

"I think Finland needs to think very hard about what its immediate priorities are, how much political capital it has, and then just simply prioritize," Pesu said. "But I think in the long term, it's quite possible that we would see some kind of NATO presence here in Finland, whether pre-positioned military equipment and capabilities from the U.S., or a smaller headquarters, or something similar.

"But I think it's unlikely that Finland will host a significant NATO contingent or significant NATO presence in the first years of its alliance membership."