The Finnish Defence Forces are in the process of testing four different UAS in Northern Finland as part of the organised competitive bidding process. The final four are apparently: Aeronautics Defense Systems Orbiter 2; BlueBird SpyLite, Elbit Systems/Patria Skylark LE and WB FlyEye (Poland).
The Finnish Border Guard is taking part in the testing of the systems. The Defence Staff and the Army Materiel Department are completely silent about the test and the responsibility for disseminating information has been transferred to the Ministry of Defence. MoD Director of Public Policy Jyrki Iivonen remains tight-lipped with regard to the details of the on-going competitive bidding. “I will not make any announcements prematurely. So far there is nothing to report. Only when we commence the selection process will we start giving out details about it. We are talking about improving our situation awareness. We are looking for unmanned aircraft to be used for air surveillance purposes.”
According to the Director of Public Policy, the reconnaissance UAS acquisitions form a part of the process of replacing anti-personnel landmines. “As it is no longer possible in a crisis situation to place landmines in an area for monitoring purposes, the surveillance has to be carried out through several other means. One such means is an unmanned aircraft that can be used to photograph the area.”
The acquisition of unmanned reconnaissance aircraft was already mentioned in the 2004 defence policy report. In 2001 and 2005, Finland acquired two Swiss-made Ranger air surveillance systems. They are used for surveillance, reconnaissance, and search and rescue purposes. The Ranger drones have been equipped for example with regular and thermal imaging camera. Each one of the acquired systems includes six aircraft which are stationed in the Niinisalo Artillery Brigade.
Source: Helsingin Sanomat