Admitted to Sweden and Finland, NATO will be like a tiger with more wings?

Maintaining neutrality for many years, but security concerns related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict changed the calculus of Sweden and Finland.

The rate of support for joining NATO in both these two Nordic countries has also increased significantly since Russia launched an operation in Ukraine at the end of February. That is why both Helsinki and Stockholm decided not to stay out of the military alliance anymore.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin on May 15 confirmed that the country would apply to join NATO.

“Today is a historic day. A new era has begun,” said President Niinisto.

Just a day later, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson also confirmed that the country would apply to join the NATO military alliance.

A Gripen E of the Swedish Air Force flies over the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, May 11, 2022. Photo: Getty Images

In fact, both Sweden and Finland are already NATO partners, receiving security reports and participating in joint exercises with the military alliance. Both countries also allow NATO access to their territory in the event of an emergency.

However, full membership would give Stockholm and Helsinki protection under NATO’s Article 5, which stipulates that an attack on one member is an attack on all of the other members.

Joining NATO, Sweden and Finland not only end decades of neutrality, but also help expand NATO’s borders with Russia as well as help this military alliance increase its combat strength.

Power in the air and on land

According to Jim Townsend, former Pentagon and NATO official, the admission of Sweden and Finland could bring many advantages to NATO militarily, both in the air, on land, at sea and in the intelligence field.

Mr. Townsend rated the Finnish Air Force as one of the powerful forces in Europe.

“They have a fleet of F/A-18s deployed with the latest American munitions, they also plan to buy F-35s,” said Townsend, referring to Finland’s intention to buy the fighter jets. America’s fifth-generation fighter under contracts worth billions of dollars.

In Sweden’s arsenal of fighter aircraft is the Gripen fighter, which Helsinki once claimed is superior in defeating the Sukhoi.

“Gripen, especially the E version, is designed to destroy Sukhoi,” Mats Helgesson said in 2019 when he was still the commander of the Swedish Air Force. In particular, the Gripen fighter is also said to excel in electronic warfare.

On land, Finland has one of the strongest artillery forces in Europe with around 1,500 different artillery systems. The country maintains a relatively large and effective reserve force as well as a regular army.

A Finnish sniper participates in a 2018 military exercise. Photo: Finnish Defense Forces

In a December 2021 poll, about 90% of men and 84% of women serving in the Finnish armed forces said they were ready to defend the country to the best of their ability. This is the highest rate in Europe.

“When it comes to fighting in the Arctic, in snowy conditions, nobody can beat Finland,” said Townsend, referring to the natural ability of Finland’s modern ground forces. as well as the country’s historic combat capabilities in terms of winter combat.

Professional and modern naval forces

He also added that both Sweden and Finland have “very professional and modern” navies. Sweden’s submarine fleet is also a contributing factor to the effectiveness of both Nordic countries in naval exercises.

During a 2005 exercise, the HSMS Gotland, a relatively quiet diesel-electric submarine with a Stirling engine, was able to come close to and attack the $6.2 billion USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier. of the US Navy without being detected.

In the exercises in the following years, the Gotland submarine was also successful when it was able to “stealth” past destroyers and nuclear attack submarines.

Intelligence ability

Finland, which shares a common border of about 1,300km with Russia, could also provide NATO with important intelligence capabilities in a conflict scenario.

“NATO does not have an active intelligence capability of its own, but relies on intelligence provided by its allies, so Finland can play an important role in this. They will closely monitor these developments. Russia’s moves,” Mr. Townsend said, adding that Finland knows Russia much better than NATO members.