Finland to participate in exploring European cooperation opportunities in air and missile defence

On Thursday 13 October 2022, Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen signed a Letter of Intent on European Sky Shields (LoI ESSI) in connection with the meeting of NATO defence ministers. The initiative aims at exploring European cooperation potential in air and missile defence. 
 
The purpose of the initiative is to speed up and facilitate the procurement processes of defence materiel and to examine opportunities for life-cycle cooperation. The Letter of Intent is not binding legally or financially, and it is not a decision to procure jointly defence materiel. Any joint procurements and projects will be agreed upon separately. By signing the Letter of Intent, Finland participates in examining the development of European air and missile defence.
 
The initiative has progressed under Germany’s leadership and, in addition to Finland, fourteen European NATO member countries have joined it. The initiative is based on changes in the security environment and the war in Ukraine, because several countries have recognised a need to strengthen their air and missile defence capabilities.


Finland’s own projects to develop air defence are progressing systematically. The building of high-altitude capability of ground-based air defence is in the negotiation phase and the aim is to make a procurement decision in early 2023 (Ministry of Defence press release 5 March 2022).


Inquiries: Senior Specialist Tommi Nordberg, Ministry of Defence, tel. +358 295 140 024.  

Return to headlines