Finland strengthens its air defense

Starting next year, the Finnish Defense Forces (FDF) will start training recruits in the use of interceptor drones, Air Defense Force Inspector Mano-Mikael Nokelainen told the military news agency Ruotuväki.

,,This autumn, we will test the use of combat drones with active-duty personnel”, Nokelainen explained.

The interceptor drones will be deployed in a new FDF unit, which is being created to counter enemy unmanned aerial vehicles that violate the country’s airspace.

Since Russian strategic objectives are located near the border with Finland, it is possible that Ukraine will continue to carry out drone attacks against these targets, which means that the possibility of drones entering Finnish airspace cannot be ruled out.

Antti Häkkänen, the Minister of Defense, believes that it is important that Helsinki is always ready to shoot down drones that fly by mistake.

,,The situations can be quite alarming. For example, we will have to make sure that civilian aircraft do not operate at the same time. For whatever reason, one of the drones launched by Ukraine could deviate from the course, and we will have to neutralize it using military force without any further consequences’’, the minister said.

We recall that on May 3 this year, an unidentified drone violated Finnish airspace near the border with Russia and although no incidents followed, the type and origin of the drone could not be determined.