Yle News
April 11, 2022

Finnish military to procure surveillance drones valued at €14m

The Finnish Defence Forces have plans to acquire between 1,000 to 2,000 unmanned aerial vehicles over a period of two years.

The Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) announced on Monday it is seeking suitable suppliers of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), also referred to as drones, to be used for intelligence gathering purposes.

The FDF said plans to acquire 1,000 to 2,000 UAS, in a two-year acquisition at a cost of around 14 million euros.

“We are looking for a system that operates in all weather conditions in different seasons in varying environments. Also, the system needs to be easy to train for all our persons liable for military service,” Lieutenant Colonel Riku Rantakari from the Army Command said in a statement.

Last week, the government announced plans to substantially increase the country’s defence budget.

The devices will be used on “intelligence, surveillance and target acquisition missions of different services’ units and service branches from the southern coast up to northernmost Lapland,” the FDF statement read.