HELSINKI \u2014 Finland’s Armed Forces Command has added a quick response dynamic with plans to locate rapid reaction units (RRUs) to military districts that fall under the command of the country’s four military provinces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Defense Minister Jussi Niinist\u00f6 described the initiative as necessary to strengthen operational readiness and bolster Finland’s overall defense and deterrence capabilities against rising regional tensions over Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The focus of deployment for the RRUs, which constitute a new feature within Finland’s territorial-based, infantry-centered defense strategy, will be military districts close to Finland’s 833-mile (1,340km) <\/span>border with Russia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finnish territorial defense doctrine traditionally has been to use mobile field Army units backed by mainly local reserve forces to counter, delay, repel and inflict heavy losses on aggressors attacking across Finland’s heavily forested, lake-rich frontier and inland terrains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The RRUs will add a front-line rapid deployment combat force to the military’s arsenal. The modular-type structure will enable RRUs to be used in defensive and offensive forward roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The RRUs are intended to comprise a mix of career officers and soldiers, as well as troops drawn from special forces units, retrained reservists and conscripts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The deployment of troops is our touchstone. Both the Air Force and Navy have a rapid-response capability, and this is the challenge that the Army now has,” Niinist\u00f6 said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ministry of Defense (MoD) <\/span>is considering proposals to increase raise <\/span>the Finnish Armed Force’s (FAF) <\/span>recruitment and training budget to broaden the scope for reservist-dedicated service contracts and refresher courses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Legislative hurdles will need to be cleared before the RRUs can take reservists in large numbers, said Ilkka Kanerva, chairman of the Finland’s Parliamentary Defense Committee. (PDC).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n “New legislation is needed to enable the armed forces to recruit reservists in a transparent and efficient way. Under the present system, reservist contracts do not stipulate exact service times or how quickly reservists can be mobilized and armed,” Kanerva said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The transformed security situation in the Nordic and Baltic regions has forced the government and the military AFC <\/span>to accelerate the process of establishing, training and deploying RRUs, said Kanerva.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Finland must reform its preparedness so that our defense organization and structures are at an appropriate level. It is legislation that is lagging behind right now,” Kanerva said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Finnish armed forces has a standing strength of 12,000 troops. The conscript-centered armed forces, based on current reservist numbers, can has a capacity to<\/span> mobilize up to 230,000 combat troops and service personnel within one to four weeks. About 21,600 conscripts are expected to complete their call-up training in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The decision to establish and deploy RRUs in a largely offensive role comes as the Finnish government reaches a provisional agreement with opposition parties to increase the defense budget in 2016-2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The growing all-party support for a much larger defense budget is being driven by unprecedented public support for a stronger military organization, a greater deterrence capability and a closer relationship with NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The broad political backing for higher spending levels comes after successive years of cuts to the armed forces’ FAF’s <\/span>core budget. The slide continued in 2015 when spending as a ratio of GDP dropped to 1.28 percent, down from 1.34 percent in 2014. The core defense budget allocated to the FAF <\/span>in 2015 is set at $2.9 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Finnish government’s unease over Ukraine is also reflected in several initiatives taken since April. These actions <\/span>included a communication sent by the government to private companies, including in the strategic defense and security industry <\/span>sectors, to inform them of upcoming changes to Finnish defense strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The companies contacted form the basis of the so-called state-industrial-service wartime partnership that underscores Finland’s Total Defense strategy. The communiqu\u00e9 stated that companies would receive further information in coming months regarding enhanced military and national defense preparedness programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n