Finland renews its defensive shield and peers overseas

Around 81,000 islands - defined as outcrops of land covering 100 m_ or more - litter Finland's Baltic coastline, the product of glacial erosion during the last ice age followed by post-glacial isostatic rebound. The 50,000 granite outcrops of the republic's southwestern archipelago create a particularly daunting labyrinth for the unwary mariner.

This extraordinary littoral environment poses obvious hazards to navigation and can produce an extremely cluttered radar picture too, but there is tactical advantage to be gained from the region's complex geography. "We can hide in there," says Lieutenant Senior Grade Mikko Lehto, indicating the maze of small islands separated by narrow channels off Turku, one of Finland's busiest sea ports.

"It's harder to find this vessel and harder for an aeroplane to attack us," adds LtSG Lehto, commanding officer of the Hamina-class fast attack craft (FAC), FNS Tornio. "There are always several choices [as to] where we can hide. We only require 3 m [depth] of water." As well as concealment, the islands provide shelter "so we can operate even in bad weather".

The procurement of the four Hamina-class missile platforms, under the Squadron 2000 programme, is one of a trio of major investments by the Finnish Navy as it endeavours to strengthen its sea-going homeland defence capabilities. A mid-life upgrade (MLU) for the two H?meenmaa-class minelayers was completed in 2007 and both ships are undergoing sea acceptance tests ahead of a return to operational service in 2010. Finally, construction of two minehunters has commenced under the MCMV (Mine Countermeasures Vessel) 2010 banner. Three of these 680-ton vessels are intended to be in service by the end of 2014.

Of the three programmes, the introduction of the Aker Finnyards-built Haminas is the most advanced. The last of the 270-ton aluminium-hulled vessels was commissioned in 2006 and all four are based in Upinniemi, home of the Gulf of Finland Naval Command. The squadron is due to become fully operational by the end of 2008.

First-of-class FNS Hamina was commissioned in August 1998 as a prototype vessel with a legacy weapons and combat data system fit that included 40 mm and 23 mm guns and an electro-optronic director. Trials resulted in the improvements seen first in ship two, Tornio, which includes Umkhonto vertical launch surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), RBS 15SF surface-to-surface missiles and a Bofors 57 mm gun, integrated with the Advanced Naval Combat System (ANCS) SQ 2000.

Tornio was commissioned in May 2003, with FNS Hanko following in June 2005. Hamina was retrofitted to operational specifications in the same year and FNS Pori, the final unit, was commissioned in June 2006.

Although their primary roles are patrolling, air and surface surveillance and protection of sea lines of communication in Finnish littoral waters, LtSG Lehto says that the Haminas have a "limited" capability to operate further afield. Maximum design speed is 32 kt and endurance is around 500 n miles at 30 kt. "The most important thing is the size of the vessels," he notes. "They are heavily equipped but small, very flexible, very fast, very light. We are not paying for tons of steel; we are paying for firepower."

Image: The fast attack craft are fitted with the unmanned Mk 3 version of the BAE Systems Bofors 57 mm/L 70 gun. (Jane's/Jon Rosamond) 522 of 4,867 words