NATO to Test Large Drones in Finland
Finland is preparing to host NATO's unmanned large reconnaissance drones, which will soon begin to temporarily operate from Finnish territory.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to Yle.
According to the Yle's sources, NATO has decided to experiment with air operations from the north, and Finland has been chosen as a test site.
Sources say the tests will take place in June in the city of Pirkkala, which will be used as a base for NATO unmanned aerial vehicles for several weeks.
The infrastructure needed for the temporary base is currently being built. The drones will be accompanied by a contingent specialising in their management.
The RQ-4D or Phoenix drones are aircraft-sized drones that NATO uses to monitor and reconnoiter important areas.
These drones have been flying in Finnish airspace from time to time since autumn 2023. They are used, for example, to monitor NATO's eastern border.
The drones resemble an aeroplane with a wingspan of about 40 metres and a range of 16,000 kilometres. They are difficult to spot with the naked eye because they fly at a height of 18 kilometres.
These drones usually take off from the Sigonella base on the Italian island of Sicily.
NATO is studying the possibility of building a second drone base in addition to Sicily, but no decision has been made yet, Yle reports.
In addition to Finland, Norway and Poland have also shown interest in building a base for large drones.
The RQ-4D drones have never been flown from any other territory other than Sicily before, making the Pirkkala experiment unique.
NATO is interested in expanding the use of large reconnaissance and surveillance drones for a variety of purposes.
The experiment also has political significance for Finland. When NATO expands its activities here, it sends a signal to Russia.
Last month, the New York Times published satellite images showing the expansion of Russian military infrastructure near the Finnish border.
In turn, Major General Sami Nurmi, the head of strategic planning for the Finnish Defence Forces, predicts that Russia will continue to build up forces near its borders after the war in Ukraine ends.
According to the Finnish media, Finland is preparing for the fact that the United States will not adhere to the key NATO Article 5, which provides for joint defence by member states in the event of an attack on one ally.
As The Gaze reported earlier, Finland is accelerating its efforts to fortify its eastern frontier with Russia by expanding the construction of a high-tech border fence designed to bolster national security amid growing regional threats. The structure, which will ultimately span 140 kilometres, is being equipped with artificial intelligence-driven surveillance systems capable of accurately identifying human activity and filtering out false alarms caused by animals.