Finland has signed a contract with germany for the procurement of Leopard main battle tanks
On 17 September 2002, the German and Finnish Ministries of Defence have signed a contractaccording to which Finland will buy 124 used Leopard 2A4 MBTs from Germany. On behalf of Germany, the contract was signed by the State Secretary, Dr Walther Stützle and the Permanent Secretary, General Matti Ahola signed it for Finland. The procurement of tanks will be financed by the procurement authorizations complementing the readiness formations in 2003-2008. The Finnish partner has not, by the purchase, committed itself to any kind of additional procurement from Germany. There are plans to use the tanks in question until the years 2025-2030.
The procurement of tanks came into question as the Soviet-built T-55 and T-72 MBTs presently used by the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) are becoming technically outdated. The FDF has in its evaluations reached the conclusion that the alternative offered by Germany is a more favourable alternative than the modernization of the tanks presently in use. The decision was also influenced by the fact that ten European countries, including also Sweden, Norway and Denmark, use Leopards, which makes it possible to cooperate in maintenance, upgrading and training.
The aim in the development of the Army is to create a territorial defence system, which includes suitable units and weapons systems for the different threat scenarios and uses. No individual weapons system provides an answer to the future challenges of the Army, but the territorial defence system and the Army units it includes must be built gradually to respond to the changes in the security environment and the requirements set on the performance of the Army. For this reason, the procurement of Leopard tanks, as such, will not solve the question concerning the requirements set on Army performance, but it will certainly create prerequisites for the gradual building of a total future system.
The Minister of Defence, Mr Jan-Erik Enestam is very pleased with the procurement contract concluded between Finland and Germany. It will solve the problem with outdated tanks. The Leopards to be acquired will enable the FDF to meet the new challenges set on our defence. Mr Enestam considers it to be of particular value that the procurement will open up new ways of cooperation for Finland.
The Leopard training of FDF personnel will start right away. The aim is to start the training of conscripts for the new tanks in the course of 2005 at the Armoured Brigade in Parola. The training of conscripts for T-55 tanks ended already last year, and the training for T-72 tanks will end in 2005, though the training of reservists will continue as long as the FDF uses these MBTs.
At the Ministry of Defence, further information is provided by Mr Arto Koski, Deputy Director General (tel. +358 9 160 88125) and by Dr Jyrki Iivonen, Director of Public Policy (tel. +358 9 160 88200 or 050 568 0553). At the Defence Staff, information is given by Lieutenant General Ilkka Kylä-Harakka, Chief of the Army (tel. +358 9 181 0111)