Military exercises | In Hernesaari, it was now France’s turn to show its NATO muscles

Of a warship in the hangar of the stern, where there would normally be a helicopter, there is now a serving table for invited guests. You can see a variety of cheese, baguettes and red wine.

On Tuesday, the French frigate Chevalier Paul spent its last hours in Helsinki before leaving for the navy’s Freezing Winds 22 war exercise.

Read more: The Navy’s main war exercise begins in the Gulf of Finland and the Archipelago Sea – including international forces

The ship’s crew, which spent a few days in Helsinki, got to know Finnish food, a sauna and a fire pit before the exercise, in which it participates with the ships of Finland, Sweden and NATO countries.

The more than 150-meter long ship is one of the most striking and newest ships of the French Navy and is intended, among other things, to protect aircraft carriers.

It is a command center of modern warfare, loaded with various missiles, from which battles against the enemy in the air, on the surface and under the surface can be directed, as well as to disrupt and electronically confuse the enemy’s reconnaissance and weapon systems.

Its radar can see targets in the air 400 kilometers away, so it can create an aerial picture of the entire fleet department. That is what it will now be able to do in the starting military exercise, in which Finnish Hornets will also participate.

Last Thursday, Chevalier Paul’s arrival in the Baltic Sea was also noticed by Russia, whose two destroyers strafed the ship by flying over it and another French warship from a height of only one hundred meters. NATO resented the incident.

Read more: Russia will have to admit that it will no longer compete with NATO countries in the Baltic Sea, says a researcher – What does it mean that the Baltic Sea will become NATO’s inland sea?

The ship the captain welcomed the guests and led the media directly to the bridge at Hernesaari pier.

“It was dangerous behavior on their part. They flew over quickly and very low. They didn’t answer our questions about their intentions,” said the ship’s captain, Commodore Antony Branchereau.

It is also new for the crew that in the Baltic Sea they have to wear several layers of clothing and be prepared to break ice from the ship’s structures.

Branchereau also led the guests to the ship’s battle center, where access on warships is not normally a given. The center is like a tightly packed open office full of desks with multiple screens. Of course the captain made sure they were off during the visit.

All the ship’s weapons are used from the positions. It remained a secret how many incoming missiles the ship can repel at once.

NATO warships of the member countries have been a familiar sight in Finnish ports this year and the situation will be at least the same next year. In Finland, the visits have mostly been received positively, which did not surprise Branchereau.

“This is a big symbol for NATO,” he said.

The Ministry of Defense recently decided on the international exercises of the Defense Forces for next year, and there are plenty of them: there are 89 exercises in total, which means that they start every four days on average.

According to the ministry, Finland’s participation in them is a response to the weakened security situation, it improves Finland’s NATO capabilities and strengthens Finland’s defense.

The amount of training next year may seem large, but the negotiating official of the Ministry of Defense Mika Varvikon according to the number is the same as in the years just before the corona era.

Visible a change was still felt last summer, when especially the United States and Great Britain began to show their political support through practical means, i.e. by training together with Finland.

British F-35 fighters were seen in Rissala and the huge USS Kearsarge amphibious assault ship was seen in Helsinki.

Read more: A view straight out of the movie Top Gun – This is the giant USS Kearsarge stationed in front of Finland just before the military exercise

In addition, exercises lasting several weeks were carried out with the forces of these countries in different parts of Finland.

Varvikko reminds that some types of exercises in the training plan contain several smaller exercises.

“These are flexible and cost-effective small exercises, which have been organized in abundance this year as well.”

Such are the CBT exercises of the land, sea and air forces (Cross Border Training) and Air Force FSTE exercises (Finnish Swedish Training Event) and naval PASSEX exercises (Passing Exercise).

“For example, the Air Force has these CBT and FSTE exercises approximately every two weeks,” says Varvikko.

In the plan one country stands out. The number one goal of all three defense branches is to develop cooperation capability with Sweden. Next come the United States, Norway and Great Britain.

Next year, Finland also plans to continue participating in exercises in accordance with NATO’s fifth article, in which member countries practice joint defense.

“There have been five to ten of these exercises in the past. The plan has now been made for the part of the observer country, but when we are members, the number of these exercises may increase,” says Varvikko.