HS Analysis | The general told an extraordinary amount about the army's capabilities – What is it about?

Defense forces Chief of Military Economics, Lieutenant General Mikko Heiskanen spoke exceptionally openly about the material preparation of the Defense Forces for times of crisis in an interview with HS on Sunday.

We have hardly gotten used to such exits in recent years or even decades. In fact, the communications of the General Staff have been exceptionally cautious and even tight-lipped, at least in terms of journalistic information acquisition, since the war of aggression against Russia.

Defense forces started after the start of the war of aggression in Russia, in a hurry to fill its weapon and ammunition stocks. In the spring of 2022, the additional money given in the supplementary state budget helped with that. However, according to some information, the Defense Forces started preparing already the previous year.

In February, the Defense Forces will also start testing the operation of wartime production reserves. It's new. It is about the Defense Forces testing its readiness to start the production of wartime supplies.

Once again, the old adage that you train like you fight is true.

Heiskanen the output is timed for the same week as that of the commissioner responsible for the EU's internal market and industry by Thierry Breton visit to Finland. He met here, among others, the Prime Minister Petteri Orpon (kok) and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen (cook).

Recently, Breton has toured several EU countries to get to know the defense industry. Before Finland, he visited Poland, which is building Europe's strongest land force and increasing its defense spending to more than four percent of the gross national product.

In Finland, Breton deviated from the ammunition factory in Sastamala. Lieutenant General Heiskanen was also present at the factory visit.

“Finland plays a very important part in the European defense industry, especially, of course, in ammunition production,” Breton emphasized in his video publication on the X message service.

In the Finnish ammunition industry, Breton's visit was closely watched. The EU's aim is to speed up European ammunition production.

EU Commission has strengthened its support for the European defense industry. This is stipulated in the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP, i.e. Act in Support of Ammunition Production).

The regulation allocates 500 million euros for investments that support the production of ammunition and missiles in the EU. In terms of ammunition, these are explosives, gunpowder and ammunition shells.

The ASAP regulation supports, for example, the expansion or modernization of production lines and the establishment of new production lines. In the case of Finnish ammunition factories, it can be up to tens of millions of euros.

From Heiska has been saddened by the public and media discussion about Russia's military economy. According to him, it leaves a distorted perception that Finland would be unattainable while Russia instead prepares full carbon dioxide for a total war economy.

Heiskanen and the leadership of the Defense Forces are now sending a message with three points.

Finns want to be told that there is no reason to worry. The defense forces are awake and have been for a very long time actually. The preparation of Finland's overall national defense is bearing fruit.

The message to Russia is that Finland is not the weak link in the military alliance NATO's eastern border. Unlike in many other countries, the Finnish armed forces and civil society are exceptionally well prepared for a military confrontation.

Finland is the newest member of NATO, so the General Staff also wants to show other NATO countries that Finland is a producer of security and not a consumer of it. One example is Finland's preserved good ability to produce war consumables, such as ammunition.

Finland has also increased and, if necessary, is capable of increasing the production of heavy artillery ammunition. That is, precisely those products that are now in short supply in Ukraine and Europe.

It is now a question of whether there is a financier for the production. That's where the EU and other countries that support Ukraine could be of help.

The Ministry of Defense announced in December that Finland plans to increase its ammunition production capacity to more than double the current level. Even before this announcement, Finland had multiplied the production of ammunition.

In an interview with HS, Heiskanen pointed out that the December decision was only an “interim decision”, with which perhaps half of the wartime production capacity will be reached.

Finland is rapidly building a superpower in the production of ammunition and especially heavy ammunition.

Minister of Defense Antti Häkkänen (kok) said in the December announcement of the Ministry of Defense that increasing the production capacity of ammunition “enables the long-term support of Ukraine until the 2030s”.

As Chief of Military Economics Heiskanen is responsible for ensuring that the Defense Forces have the right and sufficient equipment both during peace and during war. He owns shoes suitable for soldiers as well as missiles suitable for Hornets.

After the start of the Russian war of aggression, it has been revealed that there have been deficiencies in Finland's weapons arsenals. They have now been fixed and are being fixed.

The material budget of the Defense Forces has doubled in less than a couple of years. Stocks are now starting to run low.

Lieutenant General Heiskasen has every reason to smile.