Are Finland & Sweden Prepared for War? 

Hey spare parts army thanks for watching! Looks like I've misjudged Finland's conscripts apparently they are better trained than I may have given them credit for. Thanks for the feedback! Play Conflict of Nations for FREE on PC, Android or iOS: con.onelink.me/kZW6/TaskAndPurpose Receive an Amazing New Player Pack, only available for the next 30 days!

You underestimate Finland's troop count, Finland has around 900 000 troops in reserves, not only 280 000. SO it's 280 000 wartime strength, troops that are combat ready right off the bat if need be, and 900 000 reservists to filter in after that.

Fellow infantry guy here. Got a chance to hang out with Finnish and Swedish troops in Afghanistan. Great people.

I'm swedish and I know damn well that my finish brother is never ever gonna give up. If there is anyone I want beside me in tough situation it has to be my brothers in Finland.

You said Finnish conscripts are poorly motivated. When you have Russia as your neighbour you are always highly motivated. Todays conscripts and reserves all had grandfathers or greatgrandfathers who fought in the two latest wars in 1939- 40 and 41-44. On every churchyard in Finland there is a stone, the heroes graven, with the names of the men both very young and older who gave their lives for Finland and its independence. The Finnish SISU/ fighting spirit still lives on for ever.

A couple of comments on the Finnish military: 1) I have no idea to what the video refers to as "200 logistics trucks and 60 main logistics trucks", but well to me it implies that the Finnish military has 260 trucks. I couldn't easily find "easy figures" for how many trucks the military has, but the number is significantly higher. Probably something like 3k+ with all the shit in the storage as well. Hell, we had Soviet Zils hanging around on one field in my brigade when I was in the army some years ago and if they have kept those, they have kept every single Finnish produced truck since the wayback times as well. And even that number probably is somewhere around at least 1-2k. Probably during war time they would confiscate additional civilian vehicles as well, but the amount of material the Finnish military has for land warfare is at least to some degree tied to that "280k troops during war time". The Finnish army, like probably all armies, is also very good at hoarding stuff in warehouses. As corruption is not really a problem in Finland (at least in this sense), I am quite confident that those trucks are also in reality in the storage houses and someone probably also every now and then checks their condition. In terms of the rail roads, probably all militaries use them to transport stuff but I haven't at least heard before that it would be the basis of the Finnish military. 2) Finland spends 350-450 million euros on maintenance annually, not 350-450 thousand euros on maintenance (1e=~1.05USD at the moment). 3) Finnish military employs about 12.500 people. Out of these, around 7500-8000 are CAREER soldiers and rest are civilian employees. That 3k figure maybe comes from the amount of CAREER officers in the Finnish army, which indeed is quite close to 3k. There are about 20k conscripts all the time in the military as well, on top of that 12.5k. 3) Finland has a mandatory conscription for men aged 18-29 (voluntary for women). Around 70 % of men go through with the conscription (165-347 days in the military). In total about 900k Finnish people (mostly men, around 10k women are also in the reserve) are in the reserve (officers and NCOs are in the reserve until they are 61, grunts until they are 51). University etc... don't give you an excuse to not go to the army. Getting "not fit for duty"-papers is the easiest way to avoid going to the army if one so desires. The other relatively popular option is to go the civilian service for 347 days. Going to prison is also an alternative, there you'll spend 173 days (although nowadays it will be house arrest, not actual prison time usually). 4) That 280k is more or less the ballpark number for what would be called to service in case of war. When I was a kid, the figure was presented at 300k, then it fell to 230k and now it is at 280k.The potential pool is however that 900k reservists and the army takes what they need and want before and during the war. When my dad was in the army during the Cold War, the official figure for war time strength varied somewhere between 500-700k. In the Continuation War (1941-44), around 500k were at the front at the height of the mobilization. So the figures are quite fluid and based on the circumstances and the need to say something besides "we will adapt". 5) Motivation of conscripts and Finns is quite high, the most recent polling data indicate that 83 % of the Finnish population think that Finland should be defended militarily in case of war. In a Finnish mind, this means should we fight against Russia. In Ukraine similar polls indicated about 50-60 % willingness to fight just prior to the Russian invasion on February. I guess that has already given them a relatively good and motivated fighting force? In Finland these figures have been relatively stable for decades, usually hovering somewhere between 70-80 %. 6) Conscripts are probably not as trained for urban warfare, explosive ordnance disposal etc... very specific military tasks. Maneuvering in groups might be less drilled as in professional militaries. This is partly dealt with (mandatory or non-mandatory) repetition training and voluntary additional service after conscription (which is relatively popular). 7) Conscripts fulfill certain positions significantly better than career soldiers. Finland won the latest NATO Locked Shield Cyber Defense competition. My guess is that the victory came not with career soldiers but with conscripts. Most of the nerds who work in cybersecurity companies as their day jobs and are best the country has to offer are also in the military reserve. And take part in repetition exercises as well. Same goes for electronic warfare and other specialized tasks. People who would be working with those tasks during war are the best the country has to offer and not the best the army was able to recruit. 8) Finnish history with Russia is quite complex and contains a significant amount of "finlandization". We lost in the WW2 against Russia, kind of lived as the capitalist puppet of the USSR for 50+ years (we didn't get annexed), got used to how things are and slept through the time when Baltics and others with "more intimate relations" with Russia slipped into NATO. With political will we could have joined NATO in the early 2000s as well, but our political leadership back then was very harshly against it. It is easy to be hindsight biased, but well, we mostly have gotten along with Russia until now. The shock of the war in Ukraine, the destruction, rape and killings was quite a big eye-opener for the bulk of the population. As there has always been kind of this eternal belief that Russia might come over the border at some point again, the minds of the people regarding NATO changed extremely fast. Also, there is really no upsides for working or getting along with Russia anymore so therefore there is really no downside to joining NATO.

30k ready in hours. 280k in days. And after that, the rest 900k reservists when/if needed . Greetings from Finland 🇫🇮

Sweden and Finland have very close relations, like all Nordic countries do, but Finland is a bit special for Sweden because Finland was the eastern half of Sweden for 700 years. They are our brothers.

I'm Swedish but men on my fathers side fought in the finnish-russian wars. Swedish and Finnish sometimes make jokes about each other but we are brothers when it comes to the Russian threat.

During the Winter War, a Soviet scout unit was advancing up a pass between two large rock outcrops, when they heard over their radio, "Hey Reds! One of our Finnish reservists is stronger than ten of your fighters." The Soviet scouting team requested permission to show the Finnish farmers who was in charge, and were granted permission to proceed. They were never heard from again. The Soviet commander sent 100 men in an expeditionary force up the same pass the following week. They received the same radio call, this time, "Hey Ivan! One of our men is stronger than 100 of yours! Come and see!" The Soviet commander steeled himself and ordered his force through the pass, but they too disappeared. Another week later, the Soviet commander and his main force had arrived at the same mountain pass behind their advanced forces. When they were settling down to establish a refueling depot for armored vehicles, command received another radio call. "Hey! Listen up Soviets! One Finn is stronger than one thousand of your communists!" This made the commander's blood boil. At once, he mustered one thousand soldiers and ordered them to advance up the pass in fighting formation to eradicate anything on the other side. After three hours of gunfire and explosions, one Soviet soldier finally crawled back through the pass. As he was being carried back to the first aid tent, the commander stood by his side to comfort the brave Soviet soldier who had survived such a calamity. The survivor looked up at him, and with horror in his eyes, said, "Don't send any more men Comrade Commissar, it's a trap! There are two of them!"

As someone that lives on Gotland, many of us never liked the idea of scaling down the defense on the island in the early 2000's. While a land-based attack on Sweden is very unlikely with Finland between us and Russia, Gotland has always been considered as the most likely battleground for any conflict between Sweden and Russia on Swedish territory. The Americans call it the Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier, making it important as a staging area for potential conflicts in the Baltic Sea. We also know fairly well how an attack on Gotland from the Russians would play out, with the marines stationed in Kaliningrad and VDV in Pskov. As you point out, Swedish defense doctrine and weapons are tailored to sinking ships and shooting down airplanes, with the added feature of blowing up armor.

I have my highest regard and admiration to our Finnish brothers/sisters and proud to have such close relations. They should not be taken lightly. /from Sweden

As a Swede/Finn and part of Swedish Homeguard I'd like to emphasize the fact that we're trained and give orders to fight guerilla war, regroup and make decisions even when the rest of the Defense fails or command chain breaks. We know our home forests and the population living there. Our order is to never surrender.

Just had a miltary excercise with Finnish Jäegers. After 3 days of mock battles, I have to say Finnish are extremely well trained, motivated and will absolutely destroy the enemy if Russia invades. The technological difference is just huge.

Neither Finland or Sweden or NATO would initiate an attack on Russia. Defensive capability is the only relevant issue.

Finland and Sweden complement each other well Finland can focus on its ground forces to hold Russia at bay While Sweden has a strong navy and modern air force that can quickly come to Finland's aid Thus, Finland's small population doesn't have to spend heavily on naval and air power

There was a media press conference between Swedens military officials and Finlands military officials. One reporter asked "How will you able communicate when you speak 2 completely differend languages" Both nations officials looked at each other until the Finnish official said in English "How do you think we can manage" Swedens official replied " I don't know" then they looked back at the reported who asked the question. Other funny was is that 2 junior sergeants were talking about the fact that what happens if we don't get attacked from the east. Senior sergeant heard this and said "You're right, you'll never know if Russia decides to attack from Sweden."

Finnish artillery is famous for being incredibly accurate. It doesn't make a difference if the tube was forged in Soviet Union, it matters where it's pointed and what the fire support specialists do.

The difference in Finland’s conscripts is a large portion of their population still trains even after their service. Entire families of adults train together and are skilled at winter warfare. Whereas Russian conscripts tend to be young, lower class socioeconomic status, and poorly trained. Finland’s people are as much of an asset at their border and equipment.

I am a Finn (living in Southern California, but still). I was not in favor of Finland joining NATO. But when Russia invaded Ukraine, I changed my mind. Now I am very much in favor.

Swedens the only one who managed to lock on to the blackbird with a missile if I’m not mistaken! The Nimitz story is so insane too, the US sub hunters apparently got so angry and frustrated that they wanted to give up. Also one of the only few to “sink” a Nimitz in a game. Quite interesting.

Finlands population is highly motivated to fight Russia. They all grew up listening to their grandparents who fought them in the winter war and continuation war. As for the sweds, Russia has always been "the enemy", being a nemesis for hundreds of years. They even took half of swedens landmass in 1809 (Finland). Sweden has fought against most countries in Europe, but non have gained the status Russia has. Even though Sweden and Finland has been separated for some time now, and finns been finns and all, the both countries has great relations and cooperate in many fields.

One important point: With Sweden and Finland in NATO - together with Norway (who has been a member since its foundation) - it will be MUCH easier to mobilize troops and equipment through the entire region. I.e. in Norway - there are some areas where the country is so "skinny" and lightly populated that if you take out a single bridge - there is NO way to cross - other than going by sea. You could cross easily by going into Sweden and back in again. But THAT is illegal. Unless they are in NATO.... Same with fighter planes patrolling that must avoid crossing into Swedish and Finish airspace (a lot of intercepts of Russian craft by Norwegian F-16 and F-35). That will be so much easier and effective with both of them in NATO.

As a Swede I can proudly say Russia would meet resistance not only from our armed forces, but also population, a lot of people here know how to aim and pull the trigger.

As both a Swede and a Finn, i feel very proud of my nationality now.

As a Finn, I just have to point out some misinformation and fearmongering in this video: Finnish conscripts are extremely motivated (prior to the Russian assault of Ukraine, we were the top in Europe with 74% of the population willing to defend their country with weapons in an event of an attack, Ukraine being the second at 64%) - after the Russian invasion our numbers are at 88% - no one knows the Ukrainian one (while probably close to 100%), but I guess everyone agrees that they are doing pretty damn good job there...) I'd say that we probably also are in top 2 globally in terms of how well our conscripts are trained (Israel being the other top 2 country). To back this up, in the joint exercise Cold Response 2022 in Norway, a defensive force consisting solely of Finnish conscripts successfully defended against an amphibious attack by US Marine Corps, who are pretty good even by "professional soldiers" standard. Also we don't have "ski infantry". Skiing is just another a skill that every single infantryman of our conscripts, reserve has. Skiing is part of our elementary school curriculum FFS!. So in a sense, you are correct, we have ski infantry, but we call it just infantry. Our artillery does have precision-guided munitions and "soviet era" is extremely misleading - I don't think we field *any* soviet artillery equipment. We have M270 MLRS, K9 Thunders and even without taking the heavy and light mortars into account our artillery is on par in regard of things-to-fire-projectiles-at-russkies with Germany, Italy and Spain combined. Lastly, I think that video of "moving nuclear missiles to Finnish border" is a) debunked and b) totally ridiculous as a concept, they are _intercontinental ballistic missiles_ and there is absolutely zero need to "move" them in order to strike anywhere. It would be just a retargeting issue.

I'm Swedish and in the military. We look at Finland as our brothers and sisters

1 thing that i would politely like to correct is that, even though Finns are conscript soldiers we have a huge motivation to defend our country and the conscription feels just like any other duty you have to do in life. Plus our conscripts are actually well trained, "well" as in whats best possible in 1 year.

Norway: 52 /f-35 Denmark: 27 /f-35 Finland: 62 /f-35 Sweden: 162+ /gripen E/C/D

I lived 5 years in Finland and I need to say, geography of this country is dream of every defending force. It's rocky terrain everywhere and a lot of lakes and rivers. Geography is often forgotten when we speak about wars, but it is something you can't appreciate enough.

Finn living in Australia here, 🇫🇮 All my family is in finland. Finns would fight just as hard for Finland if not more than the Ukrainians have been for Ukraine. No question of bravery

Finnish conscripts are not really poorly motivated, yes, the service itself can sometimes be a pain, but great portion is both highly motivated and highly trained. The difference with russian conscripts is that finnish are not abused and actually receive training. We know our terrain and we have few tricks up our sleeve that are rarely taken into account in these reviews.

Hi! I'd like to say that todays conscripts are trained much better and have better moral than couple of years ago. I served recently and my platoon was highly motivated and trained with excelent staff

I think you got it right - Finland and Sweden were looking for the right situation and opportunity to apply for NATO membership and Russia obliged

Being from Sweden myself, I highly respect the Finnish people and their fighting spirit - it even has a name "Sisu". Its close to the American saying of bootstrap theory but jacked up to 11. What they did in 1918 and the second WW was pretty amazing and purely down to that fighting spirit - no weapons, no ammo, just knifes and morale in some cases (and freezing weather). If you think Ukrainians are showing strength of spirit (Slava Ukraina!) the Finns would basically say "hold my Olut" (beer) and proceed to march straight to Moscow.

What amazed me, is the fact, that actually all the finnish bridges have the holes in the construction to easily insert explosives and destroy these bridges with relatively small amounts of explosives. They seem to learn the historical lesson well...

Please keep it up. I love your stuff.

As a person who lives in Pietari (St. Petersburg) and has been a frequent guest in Suomi in better times and who also studied Finnish history and language in the university (yeah, in 00s we were still supposed to be at least partners if not friends) I believe Finns to be quite stubborn, tough (as most Northern nations) and noble people who value their heritage, their national identity and their independence. Despite Russia having the upper hand in terms of numbers (troops, ground vehicles, aircraft), conquering every kilometer of Suomi would be a nightmare imo. And in any case I hope it would never come to that. To me “Finnish” was always a sign of quality, as we had a lot of their goods here or went for them to Suomi - Finnish dairy, Finnish cheese, Finnish cellphones and tyres, Finnish beer (Karhu I luv you), etc. Sad to see we ruined it all. This Ukraine war is so fucked up and my country is so fucked up because of Putin. Freedom to Ukraine!

I don't think conscripts are necessarily low-skill, low-morale troops in general. I also don't think volunteers are necessarily much better. A US grunt who signs up for later free education may not have higher morale than a Finnish conscript. It all comes down to the individual level of motivation, which is pretty high in those nordic countries and generally everywhere where people feel their country is threatened. Israel also has a drafted army and would you say they are not motivated? Generalisations like that don't make sense. I also find that the Swiss army is pretty motivated, even though it's mostly conscripted. Conscription is only a problem when people don't trust their government, like in the former eastern block. Also, Saddam Hussein had little trust in his own troops, other than a few Republican Guard units and he had plenty of reason for that. But for solidly democratic countries like the Scandinavian ones, their motivation is pretty high. Also, conscription ensures that in times of need, there is a vast pool of people who have at least some basic military background. They will need refreshers, but they have experience.

This really undermines how efficient and good Finnish Artillery power is. Sure Finland doesn't have to most modern Artillery, but I bet it can beat many modern systems just by proper training. Artillery power shouldn't be undermined.

one thing about the artellery, if you would count finlands mortars alone it would be around 1500, the artellery force is about 1200 with selfpropelled vehicles and mlrs systems and regular artellery forces

British civilian here - I would be proud and honoured to have these two strong cultures as allies. It's been a while since I was proud of something my government has done, but the mutual defence pact the UK signed with both Finland and Sweden to cover the period between their application and their accession is absolutely fantastic. Also, the egg came first.

Finland's entire military is built around a highly mobile and spread out infantry that's motivated to fight. It would be an economically impossible for Russia to fight them for an extended period of time in a ground invasion. If Ukraine has proved such a headache for Russia so far with some juice from the West, Finland would be a nightmare

I'm gonna say it, Finland has one of the best Artillerys in Europe (Although we might not have enough Artillery pieces, we have accurate firing)

Great! You are so welcome!

With Russia's current performance in its war with Ukraine, it is also pertinent to ask "Is Russia ready for war with Finland and Sweden?"

I wouldn't say that Finnish conscripts are "poorly trained" or have bad morale. The training might be short (especially for enlisted) but it's usually of very high quality. The bad morale is, as mentioned, just a tradition of complaining. Pretty much everyone has a grandfather or great grandfather who served in a war so people are motivated. Also, the civilian society is still on a high level of preparedness with rules on protective bomb shelters in apartment buildings and so on. Finland uses 120mm mortars, not 102mm. The light infantry also uses 81mm mortars. Both Finland and Sweden are pretty much already integrated in NATO structure. Just read up on excercises like Viking 22. Let me know if you want to connect you to someone who has knowledge about both Swedish and Finnish military.

Thanks for posting this. Pretty interesting, for being a Finn. There were some issues but the main one was the war time size of the Finnish army. It was a bit off mark... not even close to be honest. Practically the size would be close to one million soldiers in arms plus the ladies, which have a history of taking care of numerous of duties during the WWII. The artillery bit was way off the mark, too. Finland has the biggest numbers in Europe, and not just numbers. The systems are perhaps the most advanced in the world. That's why there usually are twenty or so military experts watching in Lapland, when we are shooting. We actually never reveal the real numbers of tubes and tanks and so fort, so it's not your fault. You mentioned couple hundred of tanks while the real number could be higher, by tenfold - you never know. But we don't really mind. The motivation of conscripts was perhaps the most off mark comment in your piece. My son just went into the army and he was lightened up, as they all are. It is still over 80% who are supporting the army and are willing to defend their country. That is a real high number, if you think about it. The rest 20% will handle itself, in case some one attacks - in a day. Passive-aggressive folks, as you see. Interesting stuff, though. Keep up, dude.

Swedish guy here, yes our standing army is very small in manpower, but like with the finnish army we do have conscription and can accellerate traning if tensions rise. Another thing, we also have the Homeguard of about 25000 people, mainly tasked with protecting the vital infrastructure in their backyard spread all over the country. Its a far cry from the "invasion defence" of the cold war, but we are fokusing were we feel would have the best effect.

Finland is the "prepper" nation of Europe. Russia now gets bogged down a few km from their own borders on flat farm-land in Ukraine... I think Finland is a no-go as target. As a Norwegian, the only downside to having Sweden and Finland being part of NATO was that it was a nice get-a-way place should shit hit the fan. On the other hand, seeing Russian actual combat performance I don't really feel a need to worry about such a scenario.

You are very critical and wrong about Finland's military capabilities. -Finland's conscrips are better trained and motivated than most. We fight to defend our home, not for a college degree. Finland's willingness to defend their country is at 74% of the population, which is the highest in Europe and far higher than in the USA -We are pioneers in artillery. In WW2, we stopped a Russian force of 100 000 men in their grouping stage, by sheer artillery power. 1000 heavy artillery pieces and 100 MLR systems. -We are trained to fight a superior enemy, which means we won't abandon our post when the shelling starts. Lastly about our doctrine. A quote from George S. Patton summarizes it perfectly: “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his”

When Sweden and Finland was considering joining NATO, I remember seeing a summary of what each of them are bringing to the table, and if I remember correctly, the Finland's artillery was insane. Now back then at least me, a layman in these matters, was thinking of artillery like an upgraded design cannon of the 1600s ;) The recent Ukraine's advance shed some light on the power of modern artillery, and I was hoping to hear more, so that's how I ended up here hope I find what I am looking for ;)

8:50 sitting my time in the military (year 2021, 11 months) we trained to be proficient with iron sights, not optics. However, leaders also got some training with the night vision

Correction: Finns and Israelis are exception of conscript system: their conscripts are some of the best and their overall force is just as effective as any professional army.

Irish Infantryman here, served with the Swedes in Liberia and the Finns in the Lebanon. They don't pull their punches. A fine addition to NATO. I wish I could say the same about us. Glory to Ukraine.

At 3:45 the actual military manpower of Finland is 900 000. It dhould be understood that in WW2 Finland at its peak had 500 000 soldiers at arms in the front. At that time the population of Finland was under 4 million and as the independent country was young, only the younger generations had received military training in the young Finnish army. So today, we figure 280 000 would be enough, but if needed, 900 000 would defend the border.

The rapid admission of Sweden and Finland to NATO was possible because both countries and their armies were already prepared in advance to meet the conditions for accession. They also have experience in cooperating with NATO armies. Compared to, say, Macedonia.

Finland has pretty much won every combat maneuver simulation ever thrown at them. They really know how to use their terrain to their advantages. Seeing the performance of the Russian Troops in Ukraine, I would say Finland on the defensive would have no problem holding them back.

When it comes to artillary, it also consists several domestically produced cannons and gun howitzers and many Russian ones are modernized. Finland also uses smart ammo. Also, Finnish artillary is specifically known for its extreme accuracy and effectiveness with long history behind (Check out general Vilho Petter Nenonen, the trajectory calculation formulas he developed are still in use today by all modern artillery) There are also K9-Thunder howitzers (there should be at least 98 pieces when the deal is complete), M270 MLRS multiple rocket launcher (some 41), RM-70 multiple rocket launcher (some 72) and all kinds of other stuff...

Good channel..I may just subscribe. One thing: insert a little more history. Keep it up! Oh, hell... I subbed!

I for one am so glad that the rest of the nordic countries have joined us they are great at what they each bring to a military alliance

I remember when I grew up in the 70's and 80's that there were instructions and rules for guerrilla warfare in the Swedish telephone directories. And I think we do not have to worry about the Finnish morale if we look back historically.😁

Here in Poland we are really happy to see Finland and Sweden in NATO.

3:17 The 280,000 wartime troops and they stay in somewhat good shape. Then theres the 900,000 reservists which is a whole different story. The 280,000 isn't misleading in the slightest, they can all be mobilized under 24 hours. During WW2 Finland mobilized 530,000 troops with a population just under 4,000,000.

You should ask a finnish reservist if they are motivated. Most reservists have their own guns, own M05 gear and practice monthly. If thats not motivation i dont know what is.

Poland swore to defend Sweden and Finland while they are still transitioning to join NATO

The biggest issue for Sweden isn't the quality of the equipment, it's the limited quantity of everything. The initial orders are always reduced and the end result is a good technological product, but in limited quantities. Furthermore the spending on the military has been constantly reduced, especially in the last 30 years and for a while the focus wasn't on an invasion defense, but it rather had a focus on international missions. Another thing that wasn't mentioned is the integration/adaption of NATO structures and organization, not to mention how Sweden (and Finland) has been "Partnership for Peace" member since 1994. As for one of the claims in the video regarding "long range tactical missiles", Sweden does not operate any cruise missiles. JAS 39 Gripen is compatible with such cruise missiles, but Sweden doesn't operate/own any. Sweden does operate long range anti-ship missiles. The number of soldiers is not entirely accurate either since it didn't include 20k soldiers in the homeguard (i.e. regularly trained soldiers that aren't reservists). Another factor is the large portion of anti-tank weapons among all the units and the historical idea and tactics of guerilla warfare in the countryside. I also feel like not mentioning Leopard 2 (120) or CV90 (550) made it seem like Sweden has no armored vehicles or tanks. Feels like Sweden was more of an afterthought in this video.

The total number of Finnish reservists is 870.000. It sounds like they at first would mobilize 280.000 troops but could add considerably more reservists if needed.

Finland only need one annoyed retired guy yelling at the russian bear from his own porch and the bear flees

I think you have couple of mistakes in your analysis. Finnish conscripts are extremely motivated and eventhough some of the artilleryis 120mm mortars, finland is still quite an artillery superpower due to the training and accuracy.

I never knew I wanted a break down of Finland's defense spending. Thank you for doing that

Came across your channel and I am addicted. Love the fact that Finland and Sweeden joined Nato. I am old school having been in both the Navy and the Army, this channel gets me even though I prefer double action side arms.

Just started my military service in finland 2/22 Upinniemi. I love it.

Glad to see our fellow nordic countries join NATO! Greetings from Norway 🇳🇴 😀 This is a game changer for us who live in the nordic even tho we have all ready have a good relationship both country and military wise Nordic Warriors 🇧🇻🇸🇪🇫🇮

To be fair to our conscripts, they are pretty highly motivated, up to 80% supporting the defense Finland in case of an attack. And most importantly, when professional soldiers come here to train in arctic warfare, they train with our conscripts and every single time they are surprised that they were indeed conscripts and not professionals. Also A finn will probably fight until his gun is dry, knife is dull and knuckles are broken before staying down, because that's the power of sisu.

Military time is actually 6-12months in Finland. Depends on your weaponry etc.

Your videos are the creme de la creme. Keep it up!

As a finn, studies made that Finland have high procent of their population whom wanted defend Finland: 74%. We have been called as European Vietnam, due we've an concept. We call it SISU. Even we're afraid, we dig deep and bring up the courage. Simo Häyhä unit of 31 men, defend against 4000 soviets troops. When Finland was part of Russia, they liberate and end the seize in battle of Gorni Dubnjak, Bulgaria. 1000 rifle men won that over 70000 Turkish soldiers. This is the soldiers anthem which they sing about that battle: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1nehkhIOa-0.html

In Finland we have a saying that "Sweden will fight to the last Finnish."

Un like you that has no desire I myself am a Veteran but when I took the oath it states that we have to be ready at all times regardless if we are in or veteran so if I had to fight I’m physically fit and ready to fight in a war if I’m called on, that’s the difference.

Great vid! You mentioned that Estonia was attacked by Russia using hybrid warfare (cyberattacks). This however is not a thing of the past and is going on currently. Russia is launching coordinated attacks on Estonia's infrastructure software (or however you call it), which have gotten more and more coordinated and thought trough to obviously get to some precise goal.

The Finns will probably bring Simo Hayha out of cryostasis in a miltary emergency :p

About the ski thing: it’s not just certain battalions, but rather the entire army that skis. It’s standard training to ski, so every single Finnish soldier is trained (to an extent) with skiing

Some comments from Finn: First: yes, Finnish troops are made of conscripts who serve only a year. But! Many who have served in other countries for example French Foreign Legion or USA military says the one year in Finnish army is equivalent of multiple years in others armys as per skills accuired. That's because the year you are in the army in Finland is like one big bootcamp. There is also something that could be called "refresher training" where some of the reservist are called to keep up the training and those are regular part of military, not just once in a blue moon. Also every man knows since they are little boys that they are gonna be in the army at certain age so they are mentally prepared even if not super excited all. Secondly Finland hasn't been wanting to be part of NATO earlier because we have "Defence forces" not "army" and we haven't been wanting to get sucked to wars of others. With the situation with Ukraine the level of threath is still the same (our neighbourly "big brother" has always been something to keep an eye on and be wary) but it was time to make decision. If we don't join under this percieved threath then we would propably never.

So cool

Finland also has the most extensive bunker system in the World. They could shelter their entire civilian population, it's been Government policy for decades and it's part of their building codes. That makes a big difference when your country is invaded, the civilian population is able to hold out and it leaves the military to focus on attacking. And Sweden also has a lot of underground facilities, with airbases inside mountains, and every highway a runway. Both countries are _'hardened'_ and they've planned for the logistics of a long war in their territory (the Saab Gripen is a logistics masterpiece, the opposite of a hangar Queen). That has to be considered a Force multiplier.

Do not underestimate the animosity Finland has for Russia, and spirit pit into actions. Both Sweden and Finland have "history" with Russia. Also, per Capita both these nations perform at the top in physical endurance/ training. Perhaps a bit complacent recently (Sweden), but times change.

I like your sense of humour. Lost your backpay application lightning fast. hahaha.

Last couple of decades we Finns have pondered about the motivation of conscripts. I'm willing to bet 2/2022 has answered all those questions for a long time. And I can tell you reserve courses are flying of the shelves like himars.

The actual reserves in total are 900k troops. 280 000 are what is considered the troops that are able to be deployed quickly. AKA not too old. I was in the military in 2016 and since then I've been called 4 times to a reservist field training exercise I'd say for conscripts we are HIGHLY motivated to defend our country and independence. And we are very well trained. No wonder our troops kick US Marine ass in every wargames they fight eachother🤷🏼‍♂️😂

Finland wasn't invaded by Russia in WW1, Finland was a part of the Russian empire in WW1. The 2 invasions you're referring to, the winter war and the continuation war, were both in WW2

I can't think of a more deadly opponent than a Finnish soldier.

You should go to Finland. The soldiers are extreamly motivated and skilled. The conscrips are doing repetiotion traning frequently. They know the every day stone and tree in the area they are prepared to fight.

The most important thing is to show the conscripts and reservists that they are appreciated and respected. To do that you have to provide them with quality training, equipment that’s up to the task that they are given, treat them right and then last show them that they have something to fight for. The Finnish military and the society as a whole have been able to do this through countless reforms in both legislation and the military culture. By cutting bullying and hazing, purchasing troops the right equipment from body armor to combat sights and service weapon upgrades, providing the soldiers services ranging from medical service to daily per diem and even paternal leaves. The training we do is up to professional standards. Soldiers understand the point of said training and don’t just do it because the staff sergeant told them to. The society promotes the importance of independence and freedom but not in any type of pervasive or fanatical way but rather gracefully. Of course there’s always some faults in the system and it will never be perfect but we’ve optimized it to the very best of our ability and will keep on optimizing it.

I think there are some misconceptions about the FDF. Finnish conscripts and reservists are consistently performing as well as, or better than, foreign professional forces. Reservists are consistently called in for training to maintain skills, and/or learn new things. I'd say that the FDF has the most powerful artillery force in europe, which is consistently lauded as extremely skilled and effective - Finland has a long, long artillery tradition. Some of the big guns are older and/or soviet made yes, however many have been modernized, and new systems (M270, K9) have been and are being acquired. Ps. Did you just call the 102mm mortar small? I'd also say the comment about inaccurate artillery was quite ill-adviced. Edit: I was told by my Finnish friends that the FDF mortars are 120mm & 81mm, not 102mm.

surprised on the amount of inaccuracies in this video. i would suggest researching more than taking a quick peek at a wikipedia page..

Can you spot the Finnish sniper in this video? You’d better be quick because he definitely sees you😂

I hate it when people claim only professional soldiers are good. Like Finland literally won many times against US pro unites during joint exercises. Last time it was against the Marines. There is a partial lack of motivation but the education of finnish soldiers is actually good.

280k does not include reserves. The reserves are something insane like ~900k. A lot of them would be poor quality, but might be able to do defensive operations. 290 MBT's is an insane amount for a 5 million country. That's like if the US had 20k tanks. I hardly believe that average Finnish conscripts would be less motivated while defending Finland or Estonia than the average US soldier fighting in Europe.

Outstanding defense/offense plan.