Finland enhances naval capabilities

The government on Thursday approved the order of four corvettes, which will have Swedish weapon systems installed.

The ships will be constructed at the Rauma Marine Construction (RMC) yards in Rauma, western Finland.

The combat systems come from Swedish Saab. At an earlier phase, German Atlas Electronik and the Canadian subsidiary of Lockheed Martin had contended about the project as well.

Propellers and axles come from Finnish owned Aker Arctic Technologies.

The ships will be the largest in the Finnish navy since World War II. They will be 115 meters long and weigh around 3,000 tons, local media reported.

They are to operate year round, both in open sea and archipelago. The total cost is 1.3 billion euros, out of which 411 million go to arms.

Construction begins in 2022. Seven older ships will be decommissioned.