That 280,000 wartime strength is included in the total reserve of c. 870,000 (rank and file reservists up to 50 years of age and NCO and officer reservists up to 60). Those other reservists ouside of the 280,000 are used for replacing the losses and possibly for forming new units. Of course some of those other reservists are in reality unfit for service, but nevertheless represent a massive pool of already trained soldiers. And if the "thing" really hit the fan, there is an "additional reserve" of military trained men over the age limits of the actual reserve: c. 200,000 50-60 years old and c. 300,000 60-70. Many of them can still shoot well.
That is true but we do not have the capability to keep our artillery stocked with ammo for more than 2-4 months at most, could even be as little as a couple of weeks. After that, we would need ammo support from other countries and due to us now being in NATO it would be pretty simple. But us having a large artillery doesn't necessarily mean we can keep on shelling forever, just like Ukraine, we would need assistance with ammo.
@@Pepzi987We have ammunition production in Finland, so it is not easy to estimate the amount of time the artillery could be supplied. At the end of the day it would likely depend on raw materials. The information is classified, so it was never discussed even when I was a conscript in the coast artillery. I am rather sure we speak about more than 4 months, though.
Canadians are the same way. And, apparently, which nobody saw coming, the Ukrainians. The US military has too many hot-heads who fly off the handle at the drop of a hat. I feel safe saying this as an American with several friends who are combat veterans
Especially us Karelians, we would be so pissed off that we don't care what happens to us. Four my relatives fought in ww2. Two was MIA, third died in his rocking chair after the war ended and the fourth died in the early 1980s, where he lost his left arm due to the grenade shrapnel. All of them got 1/2 grade for bravery. All was signed by Mannerheim.
Worth mentioning is that Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway signed a agreement last year to Unify Nordic Airforces, and Sweden and Finland already have a similar thing about our navy!
Indeed. Finland and Sweden applied to NATO at the same time. But Turkey and Hungary stalled for Sweden (geopolitics). So the Baltic is Now a NATO innersee. Basically making a culdesac for both Kalingrad and St. Petersburg.
Only have one thing to say, as a Swede, about the Finns: They are hard as steel and invincible. They are my beloved and respected brother people of the East, with experience. Sweden may have lagged behind, BUT! We have the ability to produce fighter planes and other world-leading weapons. We have the world's, according to US naval experience, the world's best submarine (quietest and impossible to detect). We sell the best of the best guns to the United States. BUT! In the end, it comes down to how willing we are to fight.
Norway has money and fuel. Sweden has technology and factories. Finland has arms and will to use them. As long as we are friends fennoscandia will not fall.
I might be too old for active service, but I'm not obsolete. We are many like me, maybe a couple hundred of thousand hunters spending time in the Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian forests. Not all the time, but during the years, months and weeks. We are armed, move quietly and with the all sensors of us out and ready. Capable to manage outdoors and respectively be one with the nature. At the moment we are specially tuned for, well you understand for what. I'm waiting for the autumn and planning my new hunting trip into the woods. Depending of course the remaining holidays. Northern countries are one tough family. Also in this sense.
Well said, military service is still mandatory for all men and voluntary for women. My father, me and my son have all been in the army and we are just ordinary Finnish people.
Yeps, sitting on a bunker at the moment. My godmother is still in the civil defence force and required to pick up her pots and pans and report to a military base to cook for the troops at 70 years of age (she has a catering business). My brother in law is a commander in the military police and he goes through training every few years what is the most efficient way to confiscate civilian equipment for the military. Not that many large 4x SUVs in Finland despite the terrain, because almost every man in Finland know their 'humwees' will be confiscated by the military. My sister is at a week-long military preparedness course at the moment (that has been going on since 20 years in the company) in order to be understand the legal framework in case of martial law (she's the Senior Accountant in an IT software company).
I’ve been to Finland. It’s a beautiful country, with beautiful people. It’s impressive that with a population of just over 5 million citizens that their military is bigger than the British.
Also I think It is already confirmed that RK:s will be replaced with some AR variants made by Sako in the future. As far as i know, caliber is not decided yet (=not known to public) but it will be 5,56×45 mm NATO or 7,62×51 mm NATO.
would say its overly heavy and basicly crappy gun to be issued with. It is ok in sense that it works but it brings nothing new to table what so ever. While it can theoretically shoot rifle grenades its useless option since we dont have any of those. I would pick RK62 any fucking day over that junk. Provided that it is in ok condition and not shot so much that it became shotgun since i have seen those too. Basicly we need something lighter and something that I can attach underbarrel launcher for bloobs or perhaps we should invest tiny amount of money to rifle grenades...... How ever I am not all that confident that NATO can defend any of its allies at this point. UK has no army to speak of and France has some level of military capabilities but thats not very much. USA is not interested and will leave alliance very soon anyway. Sweden has few fighter planes and fairly ok Navy but no troops what so ever. Denmark gave away all its weapons for ukraine norway has very few troops to spare and Spain, Italy, Greece, Benelux, Portugal are not going to send anything to anyones help. Germany is big pile of crap and has no weapons no troops and no want to do anything in any situation. Estonia and Latvia and Lithuania are on frontline and tiny and incapable to do anything, Poland might be able to send something and might be willing to and is certainly capable to. But Poland and France and few Swedes cant do shit alone.
The wartime size of the Finnish military is a bit below 300k solders, but the total size of the reserve force is almost 1M, which was not mentioned IIRC...
yeah i never went to army but im only pardoned for time of peace. i had medical conditions then i still have some of em BUT they will call me out teach me how to use rifle or do somethin if war was to happen here
Itseasiassa JOKAINEN SUOMALAINEN MIES ON KÄYNYT ARMEIJAN (ellei saa vapautusta kunnon TAI vastaavan asian takia VAIN RAUHAN AIKANA MAHDOLLISTA), Suomessa on noin 7 milj ihmistä = 2-3milj sotilasta reservissä...
When the Ukraine war started and a lot of Finns updated their reservist status, a branch in Turku had a call from an older gentleman who asked if there is something he could do to help. After bit more chat they had to decline. "You did your part in the Winter War, nothing more is asked of you sir." Veteran of WW2 called and asked to help, as is their way.
I used to visit my great grandparents as a kid up in Northern Ontario Canada. (A lot of Finns moved up there as it has similar weather/Terrain (Finland) & Logging work). I would read Finnish magazines (Some English in them) they had mailed from homeland. One article had a nationwide poll result. They asked what they would do If Finland was ever invaded. 85% of Finns indicated that they would fight to the death. Holy S^#t. I suspect the attitude has not changed.
Not much change so far. In 2022, 88% of males and 79% of females would defend the country within their capabilities, although the question did not specify "till death"...
The lastest Win/Gallup survey, which is usually the refference for these articles, had 74% of polled Finnish citizens reporting to be willing to fight for their country, which is indeed in the higher echelons to their credit. For refference, the global average is 61%, and western Europe average is 25%
If we someday have to protect our country, then the enemy is coming from the East, all other countries is civilized so they dont attack neighboring countries. It, s only Russia biggest country in the world and they all time think they are surronded by enemies Who Will invade them tomorrow. Russians are the most perfekt people they dont do any misstake they are allways victims of others actions. Maybe it should be time for Russians to grown up and take responsibility for their actions. Greets from Finland 🇫🇮
@@Niilo2.2 Ei tiiä, ne on ottanu rajan läheisiä armeijan tukikohtia käyttöön uudestaan pitkin 2000-lukua. Mutta nyt Suomi on NATO maa, jolloi sota Suomea vastaan merkitsee sotaa kaikkia liittolaisia vastaan. Suomen armeijalla on tällä herkellä käynnissä useampia raskaiden aseiden ampuma harjoituksia (santa haminasta rovajärvelle asti), niin kyllä ne vaan johonkin valmistautuu.
@@Obi_The_Guardse ei merkitse mitään kun paperilla. mutta olet luultavasti liian nuori tai liian tyhmän uskovainen. kyllä sä raukka ymmärrät mitä sota tulee tarkoittaa, kun venäjä pystyy ilman minkäänlaisia ongelmia pommittaa koko meidän infrastruktuuri paskaks viikossa.
According to a survey conducted in Finland, 79.9% of people would be ready to defend Finland armedly, even if the end result is not favorable to us, that can already be called national defense will.
I believe that Russia also knows that, even though we lost the Winter War and the Continuation War, they were not completely free victories for Russia. However, let's hope we never have to go to war, but if we have to go to war, then we will go to war.
US Army tanker here. I am no longer in the military, but have equipment I've peaced together throughout the years for "just in case" purposes. Some of the gear is Finnish. The US may have the biggest military, but some of the Finnish kit is unmatched.
Finland's first impact on NATO was making sure We got Sweden up of its arse and on the move. Took some effort from them at first but they finally arrived
@@duhni4551 Even the Swedish msm news were making it evident that our political influence played a key role. Not just the necessity to follow our lead. We were adamant to enter together but that didn't go as planned due to certain two imbecilic autocrats in the Alliance
@@JPPVESA In all reality they didn't, well sure, if you think their government would have allowed Sweden to be left alone with their non existent defensive capabilities. Luckily Sweden did start growing their military few years back but is far cry from being effective as it should.
Hold my Lonkero, rather. Finnish version of Tom Collins (gin & grapefruit soda), sold in cans and its on tap in most bars. Very popular, real name is Long Drink, but soon turned into Lonkero (means tentacle) in Finnish mouths, it came out with our Olympics in ‘52. Also called as concrete water, since it’s gray.
It didn't even mention the massive network of underground bunkers they have. They can fit almost their entire population underground for years. Their bunkers have olympic-size swimmingpools, whole gymnasiums, soccer fields, basketball courts, movie theaters and much more. Finland remembers the Winter War with the Soviet Union and they haven't relaxed a single second for the past 80 years. If there's one country that's ready to fight Russia at a moment's notice, it's Finland. Cheers from Sweden.
Worked with the Fins a couple of times, fkn mental, it's like signing arctic Gurkhas. Also, check out the winter war 1938, the Fins didn't need any allies to kick Russia's a**
Soz m8 .... The Winter War was fought during yrs 1939-40. 105 days of GLORY ... and it was a total HUMILIATION of the " Sovjet Red Army". None of the "goals" Stalin set, was never achieved by militarily by the russkies. There wasn't "Red Army's Joyful march" to Helsinki, nor to Oulu. Nor there won't be ... in the future.
My grandfather fought both wars and didn't give a f about talk around of it all. For him it was 1 those who been 2 those who not been Whenever a civilian got all warlike he told them to shut the f up because that talk will make him wanting to fart. To us he told - look, if they try again, do what we had to do. Die, but don't let them pass. It's like standing up to Mordor before it was fashionable
07:03 Finland has already signed an agreement with the US in December of last year granting access to 15 bases for the U.S military. Nordic Response 24 was held in Finland, Sweden and Norway. Around the area where all these countries meet up north.
@@Poromijäs Gsus .... Belaja Smert is a nickname from russkies to the finnish winter war snipers. White Death = Valkoinen Kuolema = Simo Häyhä (& Co.). What do they teach in school, 'bout finnish history ??????. 🤔
You should definetly react to puolustusvoimat - taistelukenttä 2020 video. It's realistic video with real people and real news readers how a war might start in Finland. It was made by Finnish defence forces before Ukraine war started. It's really a bit weird to watch now after these events how precise some things are in there.
Russia will never attack Finland. They have learned that lesson long ago during the winter war. Also to point out Finland have the biggest artillery in Europe. Also an attack on Finland would mean an attack on your "brother" as we say. Sweden would respond in 100% to help. That means all men from cabin and houses would just take up arms and go there. And we would be on the move even if our government wants it or not.
The guns aren't AK's, they are a lot better! It's is RK62 7,62mm(RK=Rynnäkkökivääri=assault rifle) or some newer variant. Based on AK but made in Finland by Valmet and later versions by Sako. Forgotten Weapons-channel has made good videos about it if you are interested.
@@jannekoskinen9074 Depends on what you're talking about. In the principle of medium range combat rifles with high-capacity magazine and selective fire, StG-44 was indeed the first operational weapon moving away from then traditional single fire combat rifles and carbines. But the designs of StG-44 and AK-47, the interiors of the weapons, bear little resemblance. AK is much simpler in design, thus has less moving parts and is less prone to jamming.
Hopefully, because the AK is a terrible platform nowadays. Its a very durable, easy to maintain gun _(which was a centric part of its design and a big part of the reason its been so widely adopted in militias and paramilitary groups after the end of the cold war),_ while also being very powerfull, but its acuracy, range, and sustained fire capabilities leave a lot to be desired compared to modern designs
@@JugementYou have missed an important benefit of AK variants. The one thing Finland hasn't been able to rely on was supplies. Winter War taught us that promises of aid didn't mean anything. So being able to scavenge ammunition and other equipment trivially from attacking force has been high priority.
Thats a big stretch. Its only if you combine self-propelled and towed while excluding rocket artillery, with 667 towed and 125 self propelled. Romania is #1 if you factor all three with 720 towed and 225 MLRS, since Finland only has 75 of the later. Overall Poland is the clear winner if you factor in individual performance, with 525 Self Propelled and 211 MLRS, and most being very recent
we got active soldiers 16k (special forces and staff) then we have privates 24k learning war time jobs (finland trains in one year 24k new soldiers) war time size is 280k and reserve is 900k (those 900k are people who is in good health and can serve in army) when they run out in war we have people who have exempted from peacetime duties.
@@SK-nw4ig Of cource 🙄 But the Finns were probably the least surpriced and definately the best prepared - BEFORE! You do know they have a past with Russia, Eh?
15:52 The F/A 18's will be replaced by F35's. They have been in service from mid 1990's, and the techno-economic lifespan is ending in 2030's. Various systems have been replaced and upgraded regularly throughout the years, but the losd-bearing structural parts of the airframe also have a limited lifespan. Replacing those would not be viable.
Our war time strenght is 280 000 but our back reserve is 900 000. And it's well trained & motivated reserve. We are militarily a bit like "Northern Israel".
I am a HUGE believer in conscription for both men AND women. 2 yr commitment- the first 6 months is entry training, the next 1 1/2 serving. You have to leave your "bubble", you meet people from all different backgrounds and learn to work together as a team, you learn discipline. You learn that it's hard work that brings rewards not entitlement.
Conscripting women is foolish. Physical and psychological needs of war aside, endangering the population that is critical in the birth of the next generation is suicidal. That is the reason why amazons exist in just myths. The tribes that armed women were eventually wipes out.
I was nine yrs old, my grandpa said to me here is an air-rifle for you, and he learned me to shoot. Then I turned 12yrs. my grandpa said here is my gun, and learned it me as well. Grandpa got to war with russia, n served four yrs. in a row. He said many times to me, never turn your back to russia, they never change. It´s sad n we see it now. But we are ready here in Finland, my two daughters know how to keep it cool, they know also how to shoot and fight if necessary, and the most important they are ready. 👍🇫🇮
The RK-62 (and its newer versions from the 90's) is the primary assault rifle used by all branches of the Finnish defense force and it is indeed based on the AK. It's pretty much the best version of the AK, if you don't count the narrower caliber guns. The 7.62 might be a bit too large especially for armour piercing, but other than that it's excellent. It isn't actually an AK variant, but rather an emulation of it. It's built from the ground up, not upon AK parts but rather the function and shape of the AK. And allegedly the Israeli Galil was actually designed upon the RK design or one of the Polish designs, and not a true AK.
Galil is based on the RK 62. And in the coming years, the RK family will most likely be replaced from what we've seen of some procurement contracts. Most likely by something from the same Sako rifle family where the new sniper rifle and DMRs are coming from. So moving to an AR-15 based rifle chambered in 7.62 NATO.
Not sure whether you are aware of Finland's underground city and bunker system. There is an underground city under Helsinki capable of holding the whole population and thousands of underground bunkers under the rest of Finland. There are a number of videos on TH-cam giving more details.
Plus governments warehouses in secret locations storing fuel, medication and grain up to 8,5 months for all the people of Finland. Finland produces it's own energy and many of the food priducts: eggs, meat and grain at least. This is huge, and i am very proud of this prepping. It is kind of funny/ confusing to see people now around europe to talk about russia the way finns have always talked about russia. Conscript is here for a reason, and there has never ever been a discussion to end it. In fact the debate is wether it should be made mandatory for women aswell. The will to defend Finland is strong.
I dont think that you realais that is the old peoples thinkin. I dont think the young new finnish people are thinking the same enymore 2040 finnish born people will be minority in finland. Think about that
Fake news=bullshit. We're trainig with US troops and did that already before joining NATO, but there will no US base. We have agreed that they can store some stuff in our premises.
@@Ghettorepolainen Don't pretend to be a Finn when every Finn knows the DCA included 15 US bases in Finland 😂I know it is a lot of coping for you Ivan's but at least try to do your homework, these poor attempts only make you look even more sad than you are 😂
> deep deep forest area. Finland is called 'land of thousand lakes'. From military view however it is the bogs and lakes and large forests that is the thing. This place is basically a very nasty place to fight. Which is seen in equipment that every man has. And the RK rifle as well with standard Interchangeable parts, none of that AK jank where parts might not entirely fit.
You mentioned the snow as a bad thing. Knowledge of fighting and defending in really harsh winter conditions is really one of the biggest things that we bring to NATO.
Russia has fought for over 2 years in Ukraine and there also is winter! Russia has experience now and how they have destroyed equipment in Ukraine is insane!
@@helenpen4truth Yes, the Russians have managed to completely destroy their own first-line equipment in Ukraine. The world's second largest military has shown its incompetence to the world, no wonder their allies are canceling arms deals with Russia.
On 3:30 the guy has a patch from a Estonian joint exercise called Siil(big exercise that takes place every 3-4 years and all over Estonia with all the currently stationed countries units). Thumbs up for the northern brothers!
Even more so now that Sweden has also joined, the entirety of the Baltic sea other than the little bit of the Gulf of Finland near St Petersburg are NATO controlled waters. Sweden is already talking about jointly heavily fortifying Gotland to serve as base for guarding the whole region.
I'm just going to ignore this as it's obviously trolling. No one who has looked at Canada's war records (or snipers) would say that seriously. On a serious note I'd argue for Turkey. They've got the second biggest military in NATO after the US and have been an ally of the West since WW2, but they're also a major trading partner of Russia and are trying to maintain neutrality in the war with Ukraine. That's not a problem in theory, but if things go hot between NATO and Russia it's a risk.
While they haven't spent as much the past few decades, you still do not want to piss off our weird hat. Those fuckers are crazy and feed on war crimes.😅
And to add to the SAAB mystery, not only they produce the Gripen, they also make the submarines that "sunk" a US aircraft carrier in exercise. They make radar systems for many navy. And the torped 47 which is like a 5th generation torpedo that they share with Finland
The Gripen is a cost effective aircraft. Its cheap to opperate _(not to acquire),_ but thats its only perk over every other current alternative on the market. Its a great budget pick for low to mid budget air forces that cant afford to do air policing with more potent platforms, as greatly demonstrated by its operator list _(Sweeden, Czech Rep., Thailand, Hungary, Brazil, and South Africa)._ To me, SAAB's greatest successes are the NLAW, which is the current best ATGM in its price range, and their contribution to MDBA's Meteor which is the new unconsested king of BRVAAMs _(Beyong Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile)_ The GIRAFFE (land & naval radar) has also been a notable commertial success, with 14 operators, including 1rst rank powers like the US, UK, and France
The AK variant RK-62 is a precision instrument compared with its Soviet predecessor. The breeches and barrels are almost match grade, and the aperture and post sights are adjustable in any desired direction. As a novice rifle shooter I could get 5 shots within an area the size of a palm from 150 meters.
Watch a video about what happened the last time Russia tried to conquer Finland. The Finns kick ass and take names. In every way. From Iowa............................John
Only because the USSR had its hands full tho. Finland has a respectable and long lasting military tradition that lasted until today, but reasonably speaking it still cannot compete with larger powers 1-1 simply by virtue of demography and economy
Enjoying your videos! It's understandable that Sweden has an army lower in numbers and very specialized in navy and air power, because Finland is the big ice wall keeping the bad from marching in from the East. Sweden is nestled between impenetrable walls from both sides. Nordics have their own ammo production (Nammo, owned by Finland and Norway), Sweden produces the best IFVs in the world (CV90 with all variants), Finland (patria) produces the best APC's in the world. You asked in one video if the Finns were shooting with HIMARS. No, the fire in that clip was GRADS I think, but Finland has 40+ upgraded m270s which is just a tracked base for 12 rocket launching compared to 6 that HIMARS shoots. Or if shooting ATACMS or Prsms, HIMARS can launch one and m270 launches 2. Russia has almost nothing except nukes to really touch Finland that much. Their hypersonic missiles are being shot down by older patriot missiles, Finland would have David's sling with stunner missiles, 5th generation defense. And of course everything the F-35 brings. Finland has like 200 jassm-er cruise missiles. Gabriel V missiles for navy (easily within range from any vessel in russias Baltic sea navy). Finland has been preparing and wargaming at the border for 80 years. It would look silly if Russia made a move
12:55 As long as its not spring. During winter the ground is hard, ther's of course snow to get through, but there's snow boots to aid movement, and heavy machinery can move in snow provided they have proper tiers and tracks over sprocket wheels. But in the spring, when snow starts to melt and everythings wet, the ground is mushy. That's where the issues start. Not that i know much about any of that, i was a driver in finnish army during conscription, so all i know is that with chains over the wheels and four drive, a truck can go through quite a difficult terrain.
On the AKs, Finland has a long history of producing high quality AK variants. During the Cold War Finland tried to remain neutral and got lots of equipment from both the West and East. In an attempt to replace their old WW2 rifles they would test a whole bunch of weapons like the FAL, G3, AR-10 and AK and the AK would win. They would set up production in Finland of both AKs and 7.62x39mm ammo. Finish AKs are also well known for being of even higher quality than Russian ones and having gotten to shoot both a Finish RK-62 and a Russian AK-103 I would agree, it is smoother and easier to control.
Well. 5,5 million people and 1300km long border with a country that been hostile hundreds of years to varying degrees... conscription and mandatory service is the only solution. And Finland clearly remembers Soviet Union and World War 2, and how useful artillery was and clearly still is.
Finland has the legacy hornets at the moment. They will be replaced by the F-35A's. The old planes are at the end of their life hour vice. The plane you were wondering what it is, was French Mirage-2000, their air forces nuclear capable jet. Then the "sleeker" one was Rafale.
Only the Mirage-2000N was suited for nuclear bombardement. It operated among the nuclear component of the French air force _(the Force Aérienne Stratégique)_ where it progressively got replaced by the Rafale, which was intended as its successor, and can fire the ASMP-A with both its land and naval variants. The last unit was retired in 2022, and was actually never exported
9:43 I didn't notice this until you pointed it out, prompted me to do a little googling because I had a feeling maybe it was based on the Israeli Galil but it turns out the RK actually inspired the Galil
I believe you will see a lot of NATO nations that don’t have large GDP’s start to purchase a lot of Finnish and Swedish weapons in the very near future.
Given that past Gripen, all Nordic weapon systems are expensive AF, i highly doubt it. They are state of the art systems, even Finnish AMV's were too expensive for USA, South-Africa, Poland and so on. Gives you some idea. Though all mentioned nations based their, back then, new AMV's on Patria platform, they just ordered simpler / cheaper versions of them. Poland was smart and bought licenses to use it as platform to design their own version of it.
Russian invasion to ukrane was never about nato.The invasion is part of far right values and imperial politics of russia.Preperation for this has been on the run well over 14 years.Ever since they manage to block the euwide missile shield system they knew that west woud rather back down than push back
If you believe Putin went into Ukraine because he feared Nato - you would be foolish.Its only his pretext. He knew for sure that Finnland would go immediately to Nato because they would never go back to Russia. He is an excellent analyst and knows the European mindset very well and plays with it. By the way if Russians would stand in front of british doorsteps - I bet they would fight as hell. And the Finns experienced this and where always aware of an attack. Love from Austria 🇦🇹
How typical. 4 out of 5 times, a German, Austrian or Italian comment i see online praises Putin for a non-existent virtue his trolls have been advertising.
@@wardensisland1478 I don’t understand your comment - unfortunately my english is quite bad - I never praised Putin for sure or I misunderstood something?
@@p.f.5718 Putin is not an excellent analyst, he totally miscalculated the reaction of Finland and Sweden and lost all power in the region of the Baltic Sea. Putin has zero understanding of the European mindset. He is fairly stupid, and a war criminal.
Putin is a former KGB agent in Dresden very bitter because he had to go home to Russia after his imperium falling apart. He is far away from smart, tought he could take Ukraine in a week and in that phase of the war almost every one in west thougt Ukraine cant stand for long. So Putin shows the world what his superpower Army was, a bunch of bandit. Loser.
8:24 Those number are somewhat underestimated. Yes - FDF planned to downsize the numbers of the active, "1st strike capable" reserves from the old 500k men, to mere half, just before Russia attacked Ukraine for the first time back in 2014. BUT, those half a million already trained, older generation troops are still lurking among us. And like many official sources confirm, in total SHTF situation, the number of armed Finnish fighters can be cranked up to whooping 900k men. That's 1/5th of the whole population, yo! In general, military service and defense of fatherland are core parts of the Finnish culture. The 2022 Russian assault really hit too close home.
because russia hasnt had to worry about finland they have a massive military complex very close to the border, im talking massive naval bases, ICBM silos, airfields, and now with finland joining nato theres nothing between nato and those critical military targets but a few miles of dense forest. and the russian navy cant hardly leave port without the fins havin a say about it.
The Finnish Defense Force has it's own TH-cam channel called Combat Camera. Much of this footage is taken from their own channel. you should do a reaction video on their Battlefield 2020 th-cam.com/video/bTmWCbcYwb8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=6GIZkeyOlX7Rpykv which effectively shows you what Finland would do if we were ever attacked.
You could always check "Simo Häyhä (Hayha)" the most deadly sniper in world war 2 video and while doing that can check Winter War 1939 where Stalin forced Finland to be part of WW2.
We have trained together in Finland, mostly on the northern parts and for a reason too. Russia has their biggest submarine base on Kuola pennisula next to us and Norway.
As a kid I heard a conversation between my military dad and my uncle about Finland and NATO. My dad said that Finland, Norway, and Sweden didn’t want to join NATO because of all the rules. If some threatened then they didn’t want to wait for permission to fight back. The three countries are highly motivated to get things done.
Finlands millitary (including reserve personnel) is about 5 times larger than the UK contingent. If need be, Finland recalling all of it's reserve personnel - they'd be 900.000 man standing. Finland joining is one thing. Sweden joining is a whole different ball of wax. You now have a Scandinavian nation who produces their own 4.5-5. generation fighter airplanes, fighter airplanes that more or less outrun the entire F35 flight line. There won't be a US base in the Nordic countries except for the single one already in existance. The only US base existing in the Nordics is on Greenland, and that is ONLY because Greenland is part of the North American continent.
"If need be, Finland recalling all of it's reserve personnel - they'd be 900.000 man standing." Wrong, we do not have equipment for more than 280 000. But replacement for fallen soldiers will be taken from the 700 000+ reserve.
@@mattimatkalainen You clearly didn't understand.... If all of the reserve personnel was recalled... It's the same metric used in any other country. The UK has perhaps 50.000 people in their reserves..
You have couple of things wrong. Sweden doesn't produce any 5'th gen jets, won't produce either, UK will produce but Sweden took part to the UK's 6'th gen program, so Sweden hasn't and newer will build even 1 5'th gen jets. Also as HX program did bring out, Gripen didn't come even close to the performance of F-35's. Second would be that USA is opening 15 bases in Finland, this was in the DCA agreement USA and Finland signed together. So there will be at least 16 Nordic bases.
@@mattimatkalainen Well, you are right and wrong. We have the newest new for the 250k and rest could be equipped with older gear and the AK's we bought from Germany and China. Though i think some of those AK's are in Ukraine now along with other surplus gear so who knows how things are now.
@@duhni4551Jas 39 Gripen E is a 4.5 gen fighter, that with certain software upgrades will become and SURPASS 5th generation soon - 5th generation is stealth - they already have decoy software incorporated, now they just need to decrease the radar image. US will gain ACCESS to, not open even ONE base in Finland. Reading comprehension is hard i know.
Hornets are replaced. Their fuselage is monocoque-structure and it worns/tires in use, and many of finnish planes are beginning to be exhausted in that respect. Fuselage has only certain amount of flight ours it can take, it's one of the most expensive part to renew - and they are not available as a spare either anymore, production line of ''plain old'' Hornet has already been dismantled.
For bases the last I heard was that there will come a NATO airbase in the north, probably because Norway and Sweden has mountains in the north so its kinda the last flat land. Then probably there will be barracks and such for training "Rovajärvi is the main artillery practice range of the Finnish Army. At 1,110 square kilometres (430 sq mi) area, it is the largest practice range of the Finnish Defence Forces, and the largest such range in western Europe.". I assume they want to defend the airfield also so some defense. Åland would be a great spot for a navy base but they would probably have to agree to it. Like why even keep it demilitarized when every promise has been broken and the whole archipelago would make a great place to build a defensive barrier at to defend the sea behind it(Sweden or more Stockholm would probably be happy to have one there too). In a war it would be used and defended because its just a natural barrier(I don't think there is even one person that would think that Russia wouldn't go for it if it wasn't defended). Like USA have the right to build 15 installations but most will probably be a bit like in Norway so storages. So I assume the only permanent personnel will be the service crew for the planes or dunno if Finland takes that responsibility. I think the bigger real base will be on Gotland but I assume the last stop before entering the Arctic region that has almost no land without ice is important too now that China even is trying to claim the region and the ice is melting.
Just adding a small news tidbit: Finland has been building hundreds of fortifications everybyear since invasion of Ukraine in key areas, enforcing already built fortifications. Finland's geography is also very difficult for mechanized assault and tank formations Russian army had been using in Ukraine. Russian army still trains soviet era location's combat suiting in Eestern Europe and Ukraine, not what georgraphy is like Fenno-Scandia.
AK variants tend to be more solid and reliable in action than western guns. Granddad used to be a gunsmith in the army and told that western guns have problems because they are too tight, so overheating and/or freeze makes them stuck more easily than russian guns with more loose and more slack in the joints.
Finnis Defence Force is the only place there you are equal with others. It won't matter if your parents are millionares or poor. You get same treatment there. If you are capable you, can be educated as an officer despite your backround. Plumber can be a leutenant and university man may be a mortar crew member.
Pretty sure the training exercise was in Finland too, my friends bf was called up to northern finland (he had already finished his militery service like, 5 years ago) and he wasnt allowed to tell anything about it on the phone
What Putin did is what I'd describe as the impossible (kicking himself in the nuts kinda impossible) as, in his quest to not expanding Nato he achieved doing exactly that and only that :D Tho I have always said that there is couple of types of logic in the world, men's logic, women's logic and Russian logic... "Let's scare the long time non NATO Finland to not join them by attacking another of our neighbours, yeah! That'll work!"
Sisu was produced by same guy directed John Wick, but it was directed by same Finnish guy, Jalmari Helander, who directed Rare Exports (Ancient monster Santa Claus horror movie based on Krampus myth etc) where same actor was main character (btw, director's son was second main character in Rare Exports and also plays as the gunner or driver in Sisu)
Those were not AK rifles but our version of the AK. The RK 95 i believe. Also i read somewhere that the FDF is getting a new model of an AR soon. Probably something that is compatible with the nato ammunition. Most likely with the air force "replacement" the F18 will be moved to primarily training and back up while the F35 will be the main force in identifying missions and possible war time operations. And we do have pizza hut :D Theres one not more than a mile from my place :D
Bigger artillery than french and germany combined. While 280k is the wartime strength there are about 900k trained reserves also.
Well said; exactly my words too.
That 280,000 wartime strength is included in the total reserve of c. 870,000 (rank and file reservists up to 50 years of age and NCO and officer reservists up to 60). Those other reservists ouside of the 280,000 are used for replacing the losses and possibly for forming new units.
Of course some of those other reservists are in reality unfit for service, but nevertheless represent a massive pool of already trained soldiers.
And if the "thing" really hit the fan, there is an "additional reserve" of military trained men over the age limits of the actual reserve: c. 200,000 50-60 years old and c. 300,000 60-70. Many of them can still shoot well.
That is true but we do not have the capability to keep our artillery stocked with ammo for more than 2-4 months at most, could even be as little as a couple of weeks. After that, we would need ammo support from other countries and due to us now being in NATO it would be pretty simple. But us having a large artillery doesn't necessarily mean we can keep on shelling forever, just like Ukraine, we would need assistance with ammo.
@@Pepzi987We have ammunition production in Finland, so it is not easy to estimate the amount of time the artillery could be supplied. At the end of the day it would likely depend on raw materials. The information is classified, so it was never discussed even when I was a conscript in the coast artillery. I am rather sure we speak about more than 4 months, though.
@@Pepzi987 That is easy to multiply in our own production. There are many machine shops which can produce ordnance for defence force when needed.
Finns are born to be warriors. It's in the blood. Most peace loving people, but never piss them off.
bull f-ing shit they are likle anyone else, they will protect their country. They aren't warriors they are doing a duty.
❤
Canadians are the same way. And, apparently, which nobody saw coming, the Ukrainians. The US military has too many hot-heads who fly off the handle at the drop of a hat. I feel safe saying this as an American with several friends who are combat veterans
😂😂😂😂
Especially us Karelians, we would be so pissed off that we don't care what happens to us. Four my relatives fought in ww2. Two was MIA, third died in his rocking chair after the war ended and the fourth died in the early 1980s, where he lost his left arm due to the grenade shrapnel. All of them got 1/2 grade for bravery. All was signed by Mannerheim.
Worth mentioning is that Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway signed a agreement last year to Unify Nordic Airforces, and Sweden and Finland already have a similar thing about our navy!
Now all of us in NATO
Indeed. Finland and Sweden applied to NATO at the same time. But Turkey and Hungary stalled for Sweden (geopolitics). So the Baltic is Now a NATO innersee. Basically making a culdesac for both Kalingrad and St. Petersburg.
And that makes st:petersburg very exposed
Nordic countries are siblings
Why you lie? There is no agreement. They are strengthening their cooperation, but there are no joint Nordic air forces.
Only have one thing to say, as a Swede, about the Finns: They are hard as steel and invincible. They are my beloved and respected brother people of the East, with experience.
Sweden may have lagged behind, BUT! We have the ability to produce fighter planes and other world-leading weapons. We have the world's, according to US naval experience, the world's best submarine (quietest and impossible to detect). We sell the best of the best guns to the United States. BUT! In the end, it comes down to how willing we are to fight.
Tackar och bockar från Finland
And we used to be one country for 600 Years or so.
Am Finnish and we have always thought our Swedish brothers that we are the ones that lacks behind. 😂
Norway has money and fuel.
Sweden has technology and factories.
Finland has arms and will to use them.
As long as we are friends fennoscandia will not fall.
I might be too old for active service, but I'm not obsolete. We are many like me, maybe a couple hundred of thousand hunters spending time in the Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian forests. Not all the time, but during the years, months and weeks. We are armed, move quietly and with the all sensors of us out and ready. Capable to manage outdoors and respectively be one with the nature. At the moment we are specially tuned for, well you understand for what. I'm waiting for the autumn and planning my new hunting trip into the woods. Depending of course the remaining holidays. Northern countries are one tough family. Also in this sense.
Our country might be cold, dark and harsh for most of the year. But it is ours and we will forever protect it.
Just like us my Finnish brothers!🇪🇪🇫🇮
@@CarlCOts And sisters💪💪💪
Its cold, harsh and dark for anyone who tries to take it as well.
Korpraali valmiina!
Marines train Sodankylä. - 30
Finland, it's not a country with an army.
It's an army with a country!
Well said, military service is still mandatory for all men and voluntary for women. My father, me and my son have all been in the army and we are just ordinary Finnish people.
It is better to be samurai in the garden than garden at war
Universal conscript system means that almost all men are not civilians but reservists.
Yeps, sitting on a bunker at the moment. My godmother is still in the civil defence force and required to pick up her pots and pans and report to a military base to cook for the troops at 70 years of age (she has a catering business). My brother in law is a commander in the military police and he goes through training every few years what is the most efficient way to confiscate civilian equipment for the military. Not that many large 4x SUVs in Finland despite the terrain, because almost every man in Finland know their 'humwees' will be confiscated by the military. My sister is at a week-long military preparedness course at the moment (that has been going on since 20 years in the company) in order to be understand the legal framework in case of martial law (she's the Senior Accountant in an IT software company).
I'm 6th gen Jäger in my family. Straight down from first 2000 who went to Germany. 🇫🇮✌️
I'm Swedish. But I know Finland have a awsome power at the border! Hugs and love from Sweden!
I’ve been to Finland. It’s a beautiful country, with beautiful people. It’s impressive that with a population of just over 5 million citizens that their military is bigger than the British.
Imagine if i.e., brits would adopt the "total defence" concept that Finland has developed. That would make the island of Britain a real fortress.
Well, like we have a choice. Its not army, its defending forces...
Having Finland as our neighbour has been an amazing relationship historically, and perhaps at it strongest today. Greetings from Estonia.
Love from finland. I go to your country all the time ❤
Finnish people are some of the kindest I’ve ever met. Also, would never mess with them.
Thanks love. Little tip with Finns. If you hear any of these words or combo it's time roll. Vittu, Saatana, Perkele....
@@JohnDoe-hs7ml good to know. I was only taught a song in Finnish.
@@JenniferFox6300 th-cam.com/video/z7_pVrIshxA/w-d-xo.html
@@JenniferFox6300 which song if I may ask?
@@JohnDoe-hs7ml it was numbers! It was like 25 years ago now.
That is an Finnish variant of AK47. It's called RK95 and it's seen as the Mercedes Benz of AK:s. The Israelian Galil is based of the Finnish AK/RK.
And RK62 and RK62-M1 (which has that telescopic stock)
@@milo20060 👍
Also I think It is already confirmed that RK:s will be replaced with some AR variants made by Sako in the future. As far as i know, caliber is not decided yet (=not known to public) but it will be 5,56×45 mm NATO or 7,62×51 mm NATO.
…there is a reason to use that modified model; works in every condition
would say its overly heavy and basicly crappy gun to be issued with. It is ok in sense that it works but it brings nothing new to table what so ever. While it can theoretically shoot rifle grenades its useless option since we dont have any of those. I would pick RK62 any fucking day over that junk. Provided that it is in ok condition and not shot so much that it became shotgun since i have seen those too. Basicly we need something lighter and something that I can attach underbarrel launcher for bloobs or perhaps we should invest tiny amount of money to rifle grenades...... How ever I am not all that confident that NATO can defend any of its allies at this point. UK has no army to speak of and France has some level of military capabilities but thats not very much. USA is not interested and will leave alliance very soon anyway. Sweden has few fighter planes and fairly ok Navy but no troops what so ever. Denmark gave away all its weapons for ukraine norway has very few troops to spare and Spain, Italy, Greece, Benelux, Portugal are not going to send anything to anyones help. Germany is big pile of crap and has no weapons no troops and no want to do anything in any situation. Estonia and Latvia and Lithuania are on frontline and tiny and incapable to do anything, Poland might be able to send something and might be willing to and is certainly capable to. But Poland and France and few Swedes cant do shit alone.
The wartime size of the Finnish military is a bit below 300k solders, but the total size of the reserve force is almost 1M, which was not mentioned IIRC...
Yeah around 280,000 active 900,000 reserves.
yeah i never went to army but im only pardoned for time of peace. i had medical conditions then i still have some of em BUT they will call me out teach me how to use rifle or do somethin if war was to happen here
@@santtumoilanen3065 Only after those 900k have gone to the meat grinder.
Me ei mennä lihamyllyyn vaan pyöritetään sitä.. Vissi ero.
Itseasiassa JOKAINEN SUOMALAINEN MIES ON KÄYNYT ARMEIJAN (ellei saa vapautusta kunnon TAI vastaavan asian takia VAIN RAUHAN AIKANA MAHDOLLISTA), Suomessa on noin 7 milj ihmistä = 2-3milj sotilasta reservissä...
When the Ukraine war started and a lot of Finns updated their reservist status, a branch in Turku had a call from an older gentleman who asked if there is something he could do to help. After bit more chat they had to decline. "You did your part in the Winter War, nothing more is asked of you sir." Veteran of WW2 called and asked to help, as is their way.
I used to visit my great grandparents as a kid up in Northern Ontario Canada. (A lot of Finns moved up there as it has similar weather/Terrain (Finland) & Logging work). I would read Finnish magazines (Some English in them) they had mailed from homeland. One article had a nationwide poll result. They asked what they would do If Finland was ever invaded. 85% of Finns indicated that they would fight to the death. Holy S^#t. I suspect the attitude has not changed.
Not much change so far. In 2022, 88% of males and 79% of females would defend the country within their capabilities, although the question did not specify "till death"...
The lastest Win/Gallup survey, which is usually the refference for these articles, had 74% of polled Finnish citizens reporting to be willing to fight for their country, which is indeed in the higher echelons to their credit. For refference, the global average is 61%, and western Europe average is 25%
If we someday have to protect our country, then the enemy is coming from the East, all other countries is civilized so they dont attack neighboring countries. It, s only Russia biggest country in the world and they all time think they are surronded by enemies Who Will invade them tomorrow. Russians are the most perfekt people they dont do any misstake they are allways victims of others actions. Maybe it should be time for Russians to grown up and take responsibility for their actions. Greets from Finland 🇫🇮
I love reading all of these comments about Finland here. I feel so proud and honoured. We will fight for this country!
Milloin venäjä hyökkää uudestaan
@@Niilo2.2 Ei tiiä, ne on ottanu rajan läheisiä armeijan tukikohtia käyttöön uudestaan pitkin 2000-lukua.
Mutta nyt Suomi on NATO maa, jolloi sota Suomea vastaan merkitsee sotaa kaikkia liittolaisia vastaan.
Suomen armeijalla on tällä herkellä käynnissä useampia raskaiden aseiden ampuma harjoituksia (santa haminasta rovajärvelle asti), niin kyllä ne vaan johonkin valmistautuu.
@@Obi_The_Guardse ei merkitse mitään kun paperilla. mutta olet luultavasti liian nuori tai liian tyhmän uskovainen. kyllä sä raukka ymmärrät mitä sota tulee tarkoittaa, kun venäjä pystyy ilman minkäänlaisia ongelmia pommittaa koko meidän infrastruktuuri paskaks viikossa.
According to a survey conducted in Finland, 79.9% of people would be ready to defend Finland armedly, even if the end result is not favorable to us, that can already be called national defense will.
Never never ever pick a fight with a Fin - everybody here in the nordics knows this!
Thank's m8 .... I recon all we Finns appreciate that. We all nordic ppl are a part of the same family.
Fins also kick vikings ass backinthedays🌚
I believe that Russia also knows that, even though we lost the Winter War and the Continuation War, they were not completely free victories for Russia. However, let's hope we never have to go to war, but if we have to go to war, then we will go to war.
US Army tanker here. I am no longer in the military, but have equipment I've peaced together throughout the years for "just in case" purposes. Some of the gear is Finnish. The US may have the biggest military, but some of the Finnish kit is unmatched.
Finland's first impact on NATO was making sure We got Sweden up of its arse and on the move. Took some effort from them at first but they finally arrived
It is not that Sweden had any choice but to join after we decided to join, we made that decision for them 😊
@@duhni4551 oh, they had a choice and it did take some convincing from our part for them make the right decision
@@duhni4551 Even the Swedish msm news were making it evident that our political influence played a key role. Not just the necessity to follow our lead. We were adamant to enter together but that didn't go as planned due to certain two imbecilic autocrats in the Alliance
@@JPPVESA In all reality they didn't, well sure, if you think their government would have allowed Sweden to be left alone with their non existent defensive capabilities. Luckily Sweden did start growing their military few years back but is far cry from being effective as it should.
russia: No country can join NATO without my consent.
Finland: Hold my beer!
That’s the right mindset 👏
Hold my Lonkero, rather. Finnish version of Tom Collins (gin & grapefruit soda), sold in cans and its on tap in most bars. Very popular, real name is Long Drink, but soon turned into Lonkero (means tentacle) in Finnish mouths, it came out with our Olympics in ‘52. Also called as concrete water, since it’s gray.
Hold my kossu
Nah. A Finn would just down the drink and go join the NATO. They would not ask anyone to hold it. 😂
It didn't even mention the massive network of underground bunkers they have. They can fit almost their entire population underground for years. Their bunkers have olympic-size swimmingpools, whole gymnasiums, soccer fields, basketball courts, movie theaters and much more. Finland remembers the Winter War with the Soviet Union and they haven't relaxed a single second for the past 80 years. If there's one country that's ready to fight Russia at a moment's notice, it's Finland.
Cheers from Sweden.
Worked with the Fins a couple of times, fkn mental, it's like signing arctic Gurkhas. Also, check out the winter war 1938, the Fins didn't need any allies to kick Russia's a**
Soz m8 .... The Winter War was fought during yrs 1939-40. 105 days of GLORY ... and it was a total HUMILIATION of the " Sovjet Red Army".
None of the "goals" Stalin set, was never achieved by militarily by the russkies. There wasn't "Red Army's Joyful march" to Helsinki, nor to Oulu. Nor there won't be ... in the future.
well we had some foreign help but unfortunately allied with germany and had our president in russian prison after war.
My grandfather fought both wars and didn't give a f about talk around of it all. For him it was 1 those who been 2 those who not been
Whenever a civilian got all warlike he told them to shut the f up because that talk will make him wanting to fart.
To us he told - look, if they try again, do what we had to do. Die, but don't let them pass.
It's like standing up to Mordor before it was fashionable
07:03 Finland has already signed an agreement with the US in December of last year granting access to 15 bases for the U.S military. Nordic Response 24 was held in Finland, Sweden and Norway. Around the area where all these countries meet up north.
Permission to use, no permanent bases. There are a lot of them so that you don't always have to apply for a new permit.
Russia having war flashbacks of the snow speaking Finnish: 😰😰😰😰
The Finnish will have their rematch if Russia fucks with nato directly
Totta/true
Belaja Smert - Simo Häyhä 💪
@@Poromijäs Simo "white death" Häyhä. +500 russians bye bye
@@Poromijäs Gsus .... Belaja Smert is a nickname from russkies to the finnish winter war snipers. White Death = Valkoinen Kuolema = Simo Häyhä (& Co.). What do they teach in school, 'bout finnish history ??????. 🤔
You should definetly react to puolustusvoimat - taistelukenttä 2020 video. It's realistic video with real people and real news readers how a war might start in Finland. It was made by Finnish defence forces before Ukraine war started. It's really a bit weird to watch now after these events how precise some things are in there.
Russia will never attack Finland. They have learned that lesson long ago during the winter war. Also to point out Finland have the biggest artillery in Europe. Also an attack on Finland would mean an attack on your "brother" as we say. Sweden would respond in 100% to help. That means all men from cabin and houses would just take up arms and go there. And we would be on the move even if our government wants it or not.
In Finland it's a tradition to share the stories from the time in the army/during conscription. It's a cornerstone of a conversation between men.
It was a tradition in Norway too. No it's only our 45+s😂.
The guns aren't AK's, they are a lot better! It's is RK62 7,62mm(RK=Rynnäkkökivääri=assault rifle) or some newer variant. Based on AK but made in Finland by Valmet and later versions by Sako. Forgotten Weapons-channel has made good videos about it if you are interested.
Still, they are AK variants like he said.
Even the Galil is an AK variant, which is based heavily on the RK62 is stil an AK variant.
@@Xerdoz It's not like the AK-47 is the original concept either. It's based on Sturmgewehr 44.
@@jannekoskinen9074 Depends on what you're talking about. In the principle of medium range combat rifles with high-capacity magazine and selective fire, StG-44 was indeed the first operational weapon moving away from then traditional single fire combat rifles and carbines. But the designs of StG-44 and AK-47, the interiors of the weapons, bear little resemblance. AK is much simpler in design, thus has less moving parts and is less prone to jamming.
Hopefully, because the AK is a terrible platform nowadays. Its a very durable, easy to maintain gun _(which was a centric part of its design and a big part of the reason its been so widely adopted in militias and paramilitary groups after the end of the cold war),_ while also being very powerfull, but its acuracy, range, and sustained fire capabilities leave a lot to be desired compared to modern designs
@@JugementYou have missed an important benefit of AK variants. The one thing Finland hasn't been able to rely on was supplies. Winter War taught us that promises of aid didn't mean anything. So being able to scavenge ammunition and other equipment trivially from attacking force has been high priority.
The Artillery of Finland is infact the most massive in whole western Europe
Yes no mercy to enemy.
Thats a big stretch. Its only if you combine self-propelled and towed while excluding rocket artillery, with 667 towed and 125 self propelled. Romania is #1 if you factor all three with 720 towed and 225 MLRS, since Finland only has 75 of the later. Overall Poland is the clear winner if you factor in individual performance, with 525 Self Propelled and 211 MLRS, and most being very recent
How many soldiers does finland have?
I don't know - How many people live in Finland?
5,5 mill.
Well, then they have about 5 million soldiers.
we got active soldiers 16k (special forces and staff) then we have privates 24k learning war time jobs (finland trains in one year 24k new soldiers) war time size is 280k and reserve is 900k (those 900k are people who is in good health and can serve in army) when they run out in war we have people who have exempted from peacetime duties.
4 999 999 with a sense of humor
Word. Gun permits and different voluntary defence services went up when Russia attacked Ukraine.
Finns Leonidas answer to Brits about soldiers.... 😅
@@SK-nw4ig Of cource 🙄
But the Finns were probably the least surpriced and definately the best prepared - BEFORE!
You do know they have a past with Russia, Eh?
15:52 The F/A 18's will be replaced by F35's. They have been in service from mid 1990's, and the techno-economic lifespan is ending in 2030's. Various systems have been replaced and upgraded regularly throughout the years, but the losd-bearing structural parts of the airframe also have a limited lifespan. Replacing those would not be viable.
15:23 that is a Mirage 2000RDI of the French Air Force, it is a twin seat variant of the highly capable Mirage 2000 fighter.
The Sisu movie is finnish film with finnish crew and was directed by Jalmari Helander (finnish director)
Our war time strenght is 280 000 but our back reserve is 900 000. And it's well trained & motivated reserve. We are militarily a bit like "Northern Israel".
Brigth heads without religion BS.
It's not about weapon systems. It's about them working together. Unison is the thing.
I am a HUGE believer in conscription for both men AND women. 2 yr commitment- the first 6 months is entry training, the next 1 1/2 serving. You have to leave your "bubble", you meet people from all different backgrounds and learn to work together as a team, you learn discipline. You learn that it's hard work that brings rewards not entitlement.
Conscripting women is foolish. Physical and psychological needs of war aside, endangering the population that is critical in the birth of the next generation is suicidal.
That is the reason why amazons exist in just myths. The tribes that armed women were eventually wipes out.
You are supporting slavery.
I was nine yrs old, my grandpa said to me here is an air-rifle for you, and he learned me to shoot. Then I turned 12yrs. my grandpa said here
is my gun, and learned it me as well. Grandpa got to war with russia, n served four yrs. in a row. He said many times to me, never turn your back
to russia, they never change. It´s sad n we see it now. But we are ready here in Finland, my two daughters know how to keep it cool, they know also
how to shoot and fight if necessary, and the most important they are ready. 👍🇫🇮
The RK-62 (and its newer versions from the 90's) is the primary assault rifle used by all branches of the Finnish defense force and it is indeed based on the AK. It's pretty much the best version of the AK, if you don't count the narrower caliber guns. The 7.62 might be a bit too large especially for armour piercing, but other than that it's excellent.
It isn't actually an AK variant, but rather an emulation of it. It's built from the ground up, not upon AK parts but rather the function and shape of the AK. And allegedly the Israeli Galil was actually designed upon the RK design or one of the Polish designs, and not a true AK.
Galil is based on the RK 62. And in the coming years, the RK family will most likely be replaced from what we've seen of some procurement contracts. Most likely by something from the same Sako rifle family where the new sniper rifle and DMRs are coming from. So moving to an AR-15 based rifle chambered in 7.62 NATO.
MUST CORRECT THE ERROR REGARDING THE SISU-MOVIE. The director is Jalmari Helander, he has other films like, Rare Export and Big Game
Not sure whether you are aware of Finland's underground city and bunker system. There is an underground city under Helsinki capable of holding the whole population and thousands of underground bunkers under the rest of Finland. There are a number of videos on TH-cam giving more details.
Plus governments warehouses in secret locations storing fuel, medication and grain up to 8,5 months for all the people of Finland. Finland produces it's own energy and many of the food priducts: eggs, meat and grain at least. This is huge, and i am very proud of this prepping.
It is kind of funny/ confusing to see people now around europe to talk about russia the way finns have always talked about russia. Conscript is here for a reason, and there has never ever been a discussion to end it. In fact the debate is wether it should be made mandatory for women aswell. The will to defend Finland is strong.
I dont think that you realais that is the old peoples thinkin.
I dont think the young new finnish people are thinking the same enymore
2040 finnish born people will be minority in finland.
Think about that
That is a different topic, and a problem in many levels.@@greenoinas1637
@@greenoinas1637bs. My friends from immigrant families are all finnish, men go to do their service. Your kind of people are the biggesr threat.
I'm an American living in Finland and I can tell you, there will be an American Base in Finland. It's already been talked about and approved.
Fake news=bullshit. We're trainig with US troops and did that already before joining NATO, but there will no US base. We have agreed that they can store some stuff in our premises.
Yes but they going to but it in wrong place. They should put it in Viipuri (Vyborg)
@@Ghettorepolainen Don't pretend to be a Finn when every Finn knows the DCA included 15 US bases in Finland 😂I know it is a lot of coping for you Ivan's but at least try to do your homework, these poor attempts only make you look even more sad than you are 😂
@@duhni4551lmfao. their bots are the same as their soldiers, when confronted they flee with tail between their legs.
Where have you heard such info from? All I've heard is that Americans can use Finnish military bases, not that there will be new base(s) for them
4:00 Those werent AKs. They were upgraded versions of them calle RK-62/RK-95. They are the best AK type rifle out there
> deep deep forest area.
Finland is called 'land of thousand lakes'. From military view however it is the bogs and lakes and large forests that is the thing. This place is basically a very nasty place to fight. Which is seen in equipment that every man has. And the RK rifle as well with standard Interchangeable parts, none of that AK jank where parts might not entirely fit.
You mentioned the snow as a bad thing. Knowledge of fighting and defending in really harsh winter conditions is really one of the biggest things that we bring to NATO.
I think he missed the "winter" part of the winter war...
Russia has fought for over 2 years in Ukraine and there also is winter! Russia has experience now and how they have destroyed equipment in Ukraine is insane!
@@helenpen4truth Yes, the Russians have managed to completely destroy their own first-line equipment in Ukraine. The world's second largest military has shown its incompetence to the world, no wonder their allies are canceling arms deals with Russia.
I just teenager and wow i Can respect that 🇫🇮
On 3:30 the guy has a patch from a Estonian joint exercise called Siil(big exercise that takes place every 3-4 years and all over Estonia with all the currently stationed countries units). Thumbs up for the northern brothers!
Even more so now that Sweden has also joined, the entirety of the Baltic sea other than the little bit of the Gulf of Finland near St Petersburg are NATO controlled waters. Sweden is already talking about jointly heavily fortifying Gotland to serve as base for guarding the whole region.
And Königsberg
10:50 These are RM-70 launchers and fires dummy rockets. But we do have also M270 tracked launchers, which use the same laucher module as HIMARS.
"Finns are born to be warriors. It's in the blood. Most peace loving people, but never piss them off." Yes, well said
NATO's weakest link?
That would be Canada.
Big country; puny, antiquated military.
Don't put Canada out of the ability to do wonderful or some might say horrible things! The world wars taught us that.
right now its america with the gop being owned by putin and mullions of trump cultists. that country is Insane......
I'm just going to ignore this as it's obviously trolling. No one who has looked at Canada's war records (or snipers) would say that seriously. On a serious note I'd argue for Turkey. They've got the second biggest military in NATO after the US and have been an ally of the West since WW2, but they're also a major trading partner of Russia and are trying to maintain neutrality in the war with Ukraine. That's not a problem in theory, but if things go hot between NATO and Russia it's a risk.
While they haven't spent as much the past few decades, you still do not want to piss off our weird hat. Those fuckers are crazy and feed on war crimes.😅
Finland has good neighbours. Brothers like sweden and norway.
Joke here in Finland goes like this: What Sweden has but Finland doesn't?
Good neighbours.
@@jaketzi8816 and one older one: The brave Swedish kings would fight until the last Finn.
And to add to the SAAB mystery, not only they produce the Gripen, they also make the submarines that "sunk" a US aircraft carrier in exercise. They make radar systems for many navy. And the torped 47 which is like a 5th generation torpedo that they share with Finland
The Gripen is a cost effective aircraft. Its cheap to opperate _(not to acquire),_ but thats its only perk over every other current alternative on the market. Its a great budget pick for low to mid budget air forces that cant afford to do air policing with more potent platforms, as greatly demonstrated by its operator list _(Sweeden, Czech Rep., Thailand, Hungary, Brazil, and South Africa)._
To me, SAAB's greatest successes are the NLAW, which is the current best ATGM in its price range, and their contribution to MDBA's Meteor which is the new unconsested king of BRVAAMs _(Beyong Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile)_ The GIRAFFE (land & naval radar) has also been a notable commertial success, with 14 operators, including 1rst rank powers like the US, UK, and France
The AK variant RK-62 is a precision instrument compared with its Soviet predecessor. The breeches and barrels are almost match grade, and the aperture and post sights are adjustable in any desired direction. As a novice rifle shooter I could get 5 shots within an area the size of a palm from 150 meters.
Watch a video about what happened the last time Russia tried to conquer Finland. The Finns kick ass and take names. In every way.
From Iowa............................John
Only because the USSR had its hands full tho. Finland has a respectable and long lasting military tradition that lasted until today, but reasonably speaking it still cannot compete with larger powers 1-1 simply by virtue of demography and economy
We here in Finland and Sweden thank you for accepting us as a late members - we'll be supporting you as well.
You should check out Patria AMOS and NEMO mortar systems.
Enjoying your videos! It's understandable that Sweden has an army lower in numbers and very specialized in navy and air power, because Finland is the big ice wall keeping the bad from marching in from the East. Sweden is nestled between impenetrable walls from both sides.
Nordics have their own ammo production (Nammo, owned by Finland and Norway), Sweden produces the best IFVs in the world (CV90 with all variants), Finland (patria) produces the best APC's in the world.
You asked in one video if the Finns were shooting with HIMARS. No, the fire in that clip was GRADS I think, but Finland has 40+ upgraded m270s which is just a tracked base for 12 rocket launching compared to 6 that HIMARS shoots. Or if shooting ATACMS or Prsms, HIMARS can launch one and m270 launches 2.
Russia has almost nothing except nukes to really touch Finland that much. Their hypersonic missiles are being shot down by older patriot missiles, Finland would have David's sling with stunner missiles, 5th generation defense. And of course everything the F-35 brings. Finland has like 200 jassm-er cruise missiles. Gabriel V missiles for navy (easily within range from any vessel in russias Baltic sea navy).
Finland has been preparing and wargaming at the border for 80 years. It would look silly if Russia made a move
12:55 As long as its not spring. During winter the ground is hard, ther's of course snow to get through, but there's snow boots to aid movement, and heavy machinery can move in snow provided they have proper tiers and tracks over sprocket wheels. But in the spring, when snow starts to melt and everythings wet, the ground is mushy. That's where the issues start. Not that i know much about any of that, i was a driver in finnish army during conscription, so all i know is that with chains over the wheels and four drive, a truck can go through quite a difficult terrain.
Also Finland has had joint exercises with NATO forces for years and years for the huge annoyance of Russia
those rifles are made by Finnish manufacturer SAKO and in the army they use RK62, RK95 and different variants of them
Welcome to our channel for interviews of Finnish WW2 veterans. All the new videos have subtitles, many more to come!
NATO gained from Finland one the strongest army and ally in Europe. Together we will win, alone we will fall.
On the AKs, Finland has a long history of producing high quality AK variants. During the Cold War Finland tried to remain neutral and got lots of equipment from both the West and East. In an attempt to replace their old WW2 rifles they would test a whole bunch of weapons like the FAL, G3, AR-10 and AK and the AK would win. They would set up production in Finland of both AKs and 7.62x39mm ammo. Finish AKs are also well known for being of even higher quality than Russian ones and having gotten to shoot both a Finish RK-62 and a Russian AK-103 I would agree, it is smoother and easier to control.
Michail Kalashnikov himself said after seeing the rk-62 that it is now a fully thought out and well made weapon.
Well. 5,5 million people and 1300km long border with a country that been hostile hundreds of years to varying degrees... conscription and mandatory service is the only solution. And Finland clearly remembers Soviet Union and World War 2, and how useful artillery was and clearly still is.
You're right the RK62 Finland uses is am AK variant. The Sako m23 I think is the new service rifle for both Fin and Swe (AR variant,)
Sisu is mythical thing that most of finns are born with. We are used to moments when things go bad, but we Never give up.
Customs and border guards have the capability to work along side military units. They train together every year on multiple occasions.
Finland has the legacy hornets at the moment. They will be replaced by the F-35A's. The old planes are at the end of their life hour vice. The plane you were wondering what it is, was French Mirage-2000, their air forces nuclear capable jet. Then the "sleeker" one was Rafale.
Only the Mirage-2000N was suited for nuclear bombardement. It operated among the nuclear component of the French air force _(the Force Aérienne Stratégique)_ where it progressively got replaced by the Rafale, which was intended as its successor, and can fire the ASMP-A with both its land and naval variants. The last unit was retired in 2022, and was actually never exported
As a Finn, after joining NATO, I hope the Russians don't make wrong calculations like they did with Ukraine. Maybe now they realize firepower...
Nice video..Thanks! One correction..since 1965 Finland have been using their own rifle Sako 7,62 RK 62..which design is based on russian AK47 though.
The Nordic Response exercise took place in Finland and Norway.
Yes, our equipment is good, *including* the AK (RK62, RK95, ...)
9:43 I didn't notice this until you pointed it out, prompted me to do a little googling because I had a feeling maybe it was based on the Israeli Galil but it turns out the RK actually inspired the Galil
I believe you will see a lot of NATO nations that don’t have large GDP’s start to purchase a lot of Finnish and Swedish weapons in the very near future.
I hope we grow military technology because I think we have knowhow and it would be good for our GDP...
Given that past Gripen, all Nordic weapon systems are expensive AF, i highly doubt it. They are state of the art systems, even Finnish AMV's were too expensive for USA, South-Africa, Poland and so on. Gives you some idea. Though all mentioned nations based their, back then, new AMV's on Patria platform, they just ordered simpler / cheaper versions of them. Poland was smart and bought licenses to use it as platform to design their own version of it.
Russian invasion to ukrane was never about nato.The invasion is part of far right values and imperial politics of russia.Preperation for this has been on the run well over 14 years.Ever since they manage to block the euwide missile shield system they knew that west woud rather back down than push back
If you believe Putin went into Ukraine because he feared Nato - you would be foolish.Its only his pretext. He knew for sure that Finnland would go immediately to Nato because they would never go back to Russia. He is an excellent analyst and knows the European mindset very well and plays with it.
By the way if Russians would stand in front of british doorsteps - I bet they would fight as hell. And the Finns experienced this and where always aware of an attack.
Love from Austria 🇦🇹
In reality Putin totally failed to understand that threatening Finland would not prevent Finland from joining NATO, but make it happen faster.
How typical. 4 out of 5 times, a German, Austrian or Italian comment i see online praises Putin for a non-existent virtue his trolls have been advertising.
@@wardensisland1478 I don’t understand your comment - unfortunately my english is quite bad - I never praised Putin for sure or I misunderstood something?
@@p.f.5718 Putin is not an excellent analyst, he totally miscalculated the reaction of Finland and Sweden and lost all power in the region of the Baltic Sea. Putin has zero understanding of the European mindset. He is fairly stupid, and a war criminal.
Putin is a former KGB agent in Dresden very bitter because he had to go home to Russia after his imperium falling apart. He is far away from smart, tought he could take Ukraine in a week and in that phase of the war almost every one in west thougt Ukraine cant stand for long. So Putin shows the world what his superpower Army was, a bunch of bandit. Loser.
8:24 Those number are somewhat underestimated. Yes - FDF planned to downsize the numbers of the active, "1st strike capable" reserves from the old 500k men, to mere half, just before Russia attacked Ukraine for the first time back in 2014. BUT, those half a million already trained, older generation troops are still lurking among us. And like many official sources confirm, in total SHTF situation, the number of armed Finnish fighters can be cranked up to whooping 900k men. That's 1/5th of the whole population, yo!
In general, military service and defense of fatherland are core parts of the Finnish culture. The 2022 Russian assault really hit too close home.
because russia hasnt had to worry about finland they have a massive military complex very close to the border, im talking massive naval bases, ICBM silos, airfields, and now with finland joining nato theres nothing between nato and those critical military targets but a few miles of dense forest. and the russian navy cant hardly leave port without the fins havin a say about it.
The Finnish Defense Force has it's own TH-cam channel called Combat Camera. Much of this footage is taken from their own channel. you should do a reaction video on their Battlefield 2020 th-cam.com/video/bTmWCbcYwb8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=6GIZkeyOlX7Rpykv which effectively shows you what Finland would do if we were ever attacked.
the rifles you questioned in the beginning are Sako RK 95 TP, a modernized version of the Sako RK 62.
You could always check "Simo Häyhä (Hayha)" the most deadly sniper in world war 2 video and while doing that can check Winter War 1939 where Stalin forced Finland to be part of WW2.
You'll LOVE Finland!
Been 5 times. Love the place.
We have trained together in Finland, mostly on the northern parts and for a reason too. Russia has their biggest submarine base on Kuola pennisula next to us and Norway.
If you check out the Lightweight Fighter Program, the F-18 was an evolution of the YF-17 (which lost the LWF contest to the F-16).
As a kid I heard a conversation between my military dad and my uncle about Finland and NATO. My dad said that Finland, Norway, and Sweden didn’t want to join NATO because of all the rules. If some threatened then they didn’t want to wait for permission to fight back. The three countries are highly motivated to get things done.
Finlands millitary (including reserve personnel) is about 5 times larger than the UK contingent. If need be, Finland recalling all of it's reserve personnel - they'd be 900.000 man standing. Finland joining is one thing. Sweden joining is a whole different ball of wax. You now have a Scandinavian nation who produces their own 4.5-5. generation fighter airplanes, fighter airplanes that more or less outrun the entire F35 flight line. There won't be a US base in the Nordic countries except for the single one already in existance. The only US base existing in the Nordics is on Greenland, and that is ONLY because Greenland is part of the North American continent.
"If need be, Finland recalling all of it's reserve personnel - they'd be 900.000 man standing." Wrong, we do not have equipment for more than 280 000. But replacement for fallen soldiers will be taken from the 700 000+ reserve.
@@mattimatkalainen You clearly didn't understand.... If all of the reserve personnel was recalled... It's the same metric used in any other country. The UK has perhaps 50.000 people in their reserves..
You have couple of things wrong. Sweden doesn't produce any 5'th gen jets, won't produce either, UK will produce but Sweden took part to the UK's 6'th gen program, so Sweden hasn't and newer will build even 1 5'th gen jets. Also as HX program did bring out, Gripen didn't come even close to the performance of F-35's. Second would be that USA is opening 15 bases in Finland, this was in the DCA agreement USA and Finland signed together. So there will be at least 16 Nordic bases.
@@mattimatkalainen Well, you are right and wrong. We have the newest new for the 250k and rest could be equipped with older gear and the AK's we bought from Germany and China. Though i think some of those AK's are in Ukraine now along with other surplus gear so who knows how things are now.
@@duhni4551Jas 39 Gripen E is a 4.5 gen fighter, that with certain software upgrades will become and SURPASS 5th generation soon - 5th generation is stealth - they already have decoy software incorporated, now they just need to decrease the radar image. US will gain ACCESS to, not open even ONE base in Finland. Reading comprehension is hard i know.
15:21 That's Hawk. mainly used as training airframe but they're being phased out.
Rk 95 is the fastest shootin for having basically no recoil and the most reliable machined framend ak variant ever made check it out
Hornets are replaced. Their fuselage is monocoque-structure and it worns/tires in use, and many of finnish planes are beginning to be exhausted in that respect. Fuselage has only certain amount of flight ours it can take, it's one of the most expensive part to renew - and they are not available as a spare either anymore, production line of ''plain old'' Hornet has already been dismantled.
I watched Sisu, it was a magnificent film.
For bases the last I heard was that there will come a NATO airbase in the north, probably because Norway and Sweden has mountains in the north so its kinda the last flat land. Then probably there will be barracks and such for training "Rovajärvi is the main artillery practice range of the Finnish Army. At 1,110 square kilometres (430 sq mi) area, it is the largest practice range of the Finnish Defence Forces, and the largest such range in western Europe.". I assume they want to defend the airfield also so some defense.
Åland would be a great spot for a navy base but they would probably have to agree to it. Like why even keep it demilitarized when every promise has been broken and the whole archipelago would make a great place to build a defensive barrier at to defend the sea behind it(Sweden or more Stockholm would probably be happy to have one there too). In a war it would be used and defended because its just a natural barrier(I don't think there is even one person that would think that Russia wouldn't go for it if it wasn't defended).
Like USA have the right to build 15 installations but most will probably be a bit like in Norway so storages. So I assume the only permanent personnel will be the service crew for the planes or dunno if Finland takes that responsibility. I think the bigger real base will be on Gotland but I assume the last stop before entering the Arctic region that has almost no land without ice is important too now that China even is trying to claim the region and the ice is melting.
Just think that in Finland even a major has taken a rookie course
Just adding a small news tidbit: Finland has been building hundreds of fortifications everybyear since invasion of Ukraine in key areas, enforcing already built fortifications. Finland's geography is also very difficult for mechanized assault and tank formations Russian army had been using in Ukraine. Russian army still trains soviet era location's combat suiting in Eestern Europe and Ukraine, not what georgraphy is like Fenno-Scandia.
AK variants tend to be more solid and reliable in action than western guns. Granddad used to be a gunsmith in the army and told that western guns have problems because they are too tight, so overheating and/or freeze makes them stuck more easily than russian guns with more loose and more slack in the joints.
Not HIMARS, but modernized russian GRAD-21 in that clip, but Finland have M-270 tracked version of HIMARS
A mistake in the video. At 4:25 the Norwegian border with Russia is shown as being part of the Finnish border with Russia.
Finnis Defence Force is the only place there you are equal with others. It won't matter if your parents are millionares or poor. You get same treatment there. If you are capable you, can be educated as an officer despite your backround. Plumber can be a leutenant and university man may be a mortar crew member.
Pretty sure the training exercise was in Finland too, my friends bf was called up to northern finland (he had already finished his militery service like, 5 years ago) and he wasnt allowed to tell anything about it on the phone
What Putin did is what I'd describe as the impossible (kicking himself in the nuts kinda impossible) as, in his quest to not expanding Nato he achieved doing exactly that and only that :D Tho I have always said that there is couple of types of logic in the world, men's logic, women's logic and Russian logic... "Let's scare the long time non NATO Finland to not join them by attacking another of our neighbours, yeah! That'll work!"
Sisu was produced by same guy directed John Wick, but it was directed by same Finnish guy, Jalmari Helander, who directed Rare Exports (Ancient monster Santa Claus horror movie based on Krampus myth etc) where same actor was main character (btw, director's son was second main character in Rare Exports and also plays as the gunner or driver in Sisu)
Those were not AK rifles but our version of the AK. The RK 95 i believe. Also i read somewhere that the FDF is getting a new model of an AR soon. Probably something that is compatible with the nato ammunition.
Most likely with the air force "replacement" the F18 will be moved to primarily training and back up while the F35 will be the main force in identifying missions and possible war time operations.
And we do have pizza hut :D Theres one not more than a mile from my place :D