Press releases and news

A drone was discovered on the coast of Porvoo on Tuesday 1 September following sighting by a member of the public. Preliminary information indicates that the drone is used for surveying and mapping and poses no danger to the public.

On 1 September 2026, the Government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo reached a decision on its budget proposal for 2027 and is steadily implementing the agenda it agreed at the spending limits session. The agenda includes EUR 100 million of investment in construction and numerous transport infrastructure projects. The Government’s targeted measures will support economic growth.

Building on an exceptionally close partnership and a longstanding defence cooperation, Finland and Sweden will together strengthen territorial surveillance and protection of Finland’s territorial integrity, in support of NATO’s deterrence and defence.

On 27 August 2026, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Hanken School of Economics published the final report of the co-research project Critical Functions of Finnish Society and Future Trends that sought to update and strengthen the understanding of which functions are critical to Finnish society. The information needs of the research were determined by the Ministry of Defence.

The Ministry of Defence has awarded a government grant of EUR 4.8 million to the programme for northern Finland for a project to develop 5G/6G network technology that supports homeland defence. A consortium led by the University of Oulu will be responsible for implementing the project.

A new multi-purpose building for the Army Academy will be constructed in the Lappeenranta garrison area. The building will gather accommodation, training, library and storage facilities, as well as the maintenance and common facilities supporting them, under one roof.

A new headquarters building for NATO’s Multi-Corps Land Component Command North (MCLCC-N) will be constructed in the Karkialampi garrison area in Mikkeli.

The Finnish Government has appointed Anu Nousiainen, M.Sc. (Admin.), as Director General of the Administration Policy Department at the Ministry of Defence for a five-year term from 1 October 2026 to 31 September 2031.

Finland, Norway and Latvia signed a statement of intent at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum on 7 July 2026 to share information on the further development of Patria TRACKX tracked vehicle and the results of field trials. The three countries will be able to engage in joint procurement and work together in the product development of the vehicle. Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen signed the statement of intent on behalf of Finland.

The NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum, held in Ankara on 7 July 2026, witnessed several announcements of defence industry initiatives that will strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defence, and therefore also Finland’s security.

Finland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Poland issued a Joint statement on developing the New Multilateral Defence Mechanism on 6 July 2026.

Finland’s Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen will attend the NATO Summit, held in Ankara, Türkiye, on 7–8 July 2026.

Finland will procure short-range ground-based air defence systems from Sweden.

On Thursday 25 June, the Finnish Defence Forces, the Finnish technology company Insta and Lockheed Martin signed an agreement to create a maintenance and service centre in Finland. The centre will be located at Insta’s offices in Tampere.

The Ministerial Committee on Economic Policy outlined on Finland’s additional funding package of EUR 40 million to the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative of NATO and the United States. The package is part of the commitment the Finnish Government agreed in its spring budget session to increase Finland’s military support to Ukraine by EUR 300 million in 2026–2027.

The United States’ Secretary of the Army Daniel P. Driscoll will pay a working visit to Finland on 18–19 June 2026. Finland’s Ministry of Defence is hosting the visit.

The Ministry of Defence is requesting views on a bill for amendments to the Act on Military Intelligence. The bill proposes that the Act on Military Intelligence allow the use of certain intelligence collection methods in premises used for permanent residence.

Finland’s Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen authorised the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command to procure GBU-53 Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) glide bombs from the United States. Glide bombs are used in F-35 multi-role combat aircraft.

Minister of Defence Häkkänen is attending meetings of the NATO defence ministers, NATO’s Nuclear Planning Group and the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at NATO Headquarters on 18 June.

A working group led by the Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Defence examined the coordination of habitat restoration and national defence and identified means to promote their shared objectives. The working group concluded that there are major synergies between restoration and national defence. In particular, the restoration of mires has significance for national defence in eastern and northern Finland.