Today, almost every country has a significant number of special forces operators. In Finland, a non-NATO member, Army SOF consists of professional capabilities and reserve units. SOF reserve units keep up and develop their military skills regularly. Reserve units can be called up rapidly in order to complement FINSOF capability. Regularly, Finnish conventional and SOF units are deployed to Afghanistan in support of US-led coalition forces. In this video, reservists with the Utti Iceberg Regiment put their close quarter battle (CQB) skills through a refresher.
The Finnish Defence Forces are under the command of the Chief of Defence, who is directly subordinate to the President of the Republic in matters related to the military command. Decisions concerning military orders are made by the President of the Republic in consultation with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence.
Utti Iceberg Regiment
The Utti Iceberg Regiment is comprised of four components:
- Special Jaeger Battalion
- Paratrooper Company
- Helicopter Support Battalion
- Support Company
The defense forces are currently undergoing key procurement programs for all three branches. The Navy is scheduled to get its largest vessels since the Väinämöinen class with the new 100m+ Pohjanmaa-class corvette. The Air Force is in the process of acquiring a replacement for the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter for 10€ billion.[10] Meanwhile, the Army is planning to replace the Patria Pasi armored vehicles with the also domestic Protolab Misu. The standard-issue assault rifle RK 62 is also being upgraded to a new variant.
