Military and Commercial Technology: Finland nears decision on weapons for Corvette 2020 project

Monday, 9 April 2018

Finland nears decision on weapons for Corvette 2020 project

Squadron 2020 class Corvette

Finland nears decision on sea-based weapons

By: Aaron Mehta

WASHINGTON – Finland is nearing a decision on how best to arm its upcoming fleet of new ship designs, with two U.S. weapons among the finalists.

Finland is replacing seven different vessels – three minelayers and four fast attack missile crafts – with four of the Squadron 2020 class Corvettes. According to a government timeline, the ship production contracts will be handed out by the end of this year, with construction starting in 2019. A first test run of the ship design will occur in 2022, with all four ships operational by 2027.

As part of that ship upgrade plan, Helsinki is eyeing how best to arm the new ships. Officially, that decision will come sometime in 2018, but there are indications the weapon selection could come in the first half of the year.

In a Feb. 27 interview with Defense News, Finnish Defence Policy Director-General Janne Kuusela stressed that Finland would consider all options for the weapon systems, noting that the Finnish defense industry is not capable of providing such assets. However, Finland has not specified what non-U.S. suppliers are being considered as alternatives.

“We are one of the few nations that do procure weapons through open competition,” Kuusela said. “So, we make sure that we get the best kit for best price.”

The Trump administration has already laid the groundwork to ease potential weapon sales, with the Defense Security Cooperation Agency having already cleared two potential packages of armaments through the U.S. Senate. Alerting the Senate of potential sales, even before a system is selected, saves time in the foreign military sales process.

The first package covered 68 Evolved Seasparrow Missiles (ESSM) and one ESSM inert operational missile, along with associated parts and technical expertise, with an estimated cost of $112.7 million. These weapons are for use on Finland’s new Squadron 2020 class Corvette ships.

The second package, which comes with an estimated price tag of $622 million, covers a mix of surface launched Harpoon weapons, which will go on Finland’s Hamina class ships, the new Corvettes, and Coastal Batteries. Included in this package are 100 RGM-84Q-4 Harpoon Block II Plus Extended Range (ER) Grade B Surface-Launched Missiles, 12 RGM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II Grade B Surface-Launched Missiles, 12 RGM-84Q-4 Harpoon Block II+ ER Grade B Surface-Launched Upgrade Kits, four RTM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II Grade B Exercise Surface-Launched Missiles, and four RTM-84Q-4 Harpoon Block II+ ER Grade B Exercise Surface-Launched Missiles.

If selected, the ESSM package would be done at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Arizona, for the missiles, and BAE Systems in Aberdeen, South Dakota, for the missile canisters. On the Harpoon package, work would be done by Boeing’s St. Louis factory.

But the opportunities for American industry go beyond just missiles. As Finland stands up its new multi-role Corvettes, American firms stand to benefit with potential sales of sensors and equipment aboard those designs.

“The ships are constructed in the Finnish dockyards, but basically most of the things inside it are procured from abroad,” Kuusela said. “So they will have lots of U.S. technology in those ships, the sensors and weapons systems and weapons ammunition.”

Original post: defensenews.com

The warship project started in 2008. The best military, naval, engineering and strategic expertise was gathered, with military and geopolitical know-how.

The foundation of the project is the decommissioning of equipment and naval enforcement of statutory tasks. The Navy's tasks include monitoring and safeguarding territorial integrity, combating offshore attacks and protecting maritime traffic.

Logistically, Finland is like the northern island: as many as 90 percent of exports go by sea - and almost 80 percent of imports. Only 30% of the ships pass through the Finnish flag. The threat of a military crisis in the Baltic Sea can stop shipping. That threat has grown in recent years.

New ships must be able to detect and influence paints in air, surface and under water. In addition, they are required to have a significant amount of nail polish. New ships are used all year round in all Finnish sea areas: in the archipelago and in the open sea.

In normal conditions and upgrading, emphasis is placed on the use of vessels on the high seas and on the coast in the area of monitoring and safeguarding the area. The presence and visibility of vessels at sea is also a message of defense and desire.

In a crisis situation, the principle of using ships is to maximize the protection of the coast and the archipelago.

Although modern aeronautical and space exploration can make ships relatively easy to locate, it is not easy to steer constantly moving vessels even for the superpower armed forces. The movement provides effective protection for ships moving outside the optical range.

The large size of new corveters makes it possible to place high-performance control and control systems on the ship. Vessels are capable of combating and deceiving many of the threats to air at the same time.

In a potential hit, the combat resistance of a ship is better than ever, thanks to its compartmentation and efficient fire and damage control. As a result, new ships are able to operate at a higher risk even on the high seas.

Good co-operation between naval troops and other armed forces is key to the survival of the units.

Various combat systems are offered by the Swedish Saab Electronic Defense System s, the German Atlas Electronik and the Canadian Locheed Martin . The best ones are chosen. Already, the entire trio of suppliers travels regularly in Finland seeking industrial partners.

Finnish companies such as Patria , Millog and many smaller companies are allowed to expect that Finnish agents will remain in business to maintain new ships for maintenance, repair, and further development of systems.

Vessels are also installing systems for other development programs and fleet of outgoing vessels. Computationally, their value is about 40-60 million euros.

Corvette equipment includes 57-millimeter cannons, anti-aircraft missiles, torpedoes for submarines, topcoats, and seamstones. It is precisely the mine action that requires a large size of the vessel; space and load capacity ..

The whole weapon and information system is integrated into one package. The ship's weapon system plays an important role also as part of the national defense system.

New ships are equipped with spotters, control and paint spotting radars, electro-optics, communication devices, electronic intelligence devices, echo meters and the most important battle line system.