Finnish Army

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Finnish Army
Suomen maavoimat
Finlands armé

Finnish Army emblem
Active 1918–present
Country Finland
Role Ground defence
Engagements Winter War
Continuation War
Lapland War
Commanders
Commander Lieutenant-General Ilkka Aspara

The Finnish Army (Finnish: Maavoimat, Swedish: Armén) is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. Today's Army is divided into six branches: the infantry, field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, engineers, signals, and materiel troops.

Contents

[edit] History of the Finnish Army

See also: Military of the Grand Duchy of Finland

Between 1809 and 1917 Finland was an autonomous part of the Russian Empire as the Grand Duchy of Finland. Between 1881 and 1901 the Grand Duchy had its own army. Before that several other military units had also been formed while Finland belonged to Sweden.

The Grand Duchy inherited its allotment system (ruotujakolaitos) from the Swedish military organization. However, for several decades, Russian rulers did not require military service from Finland - operations and defence were mostly taken care by Russian troops based in the Grand Duchy. As a result, officer benefits of the allotment system became practically pensions, as payment was based on passive availability, not on actual service.

The Finnish lantdag made a pact with Tsar Alexander I; Finland paid a tax to Russia as compensation and military service was not called. This lasted until the Crimean War, 1854, during and after which Finland set up some sharpshooter battalions based on rote system. These participated on the Russian side in the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), Russo-Japanese War[citation needed] and World War I[citation needed].

At the turn of the 20th century, the Russian empire was weakening, and this was reflected in a reduced capacity of the Russian troops to keep public order. Voluntary defence organizations disguised as fire brigades were formed by the Finnish people. There were socialist Red Guards and conservative, anti-socialist Protection Guards (or White Guards). Also, activists secretly travelled to Germany to receive military training and became elite Jaeger troops (jääkärit). After independence, the government declared the Whites government troops, and the Finnish Civil War was fought between the Reds, assisted by Communist Russians, and White Guards added with the Jaegers and assisted by the German empire. After the war in 1919, the Protection Guards became a separate organization. Therefore, strictly speaking, there is no continuity between the White Guards, which became a voluntary organization, and the Finnish army, which was a cadre army based on conscription. However, Jaegers gained important positions in the army, and German tactics and military principles were adopted.

[edit] Winter War

The Finnish Army (1939) at the beginning of the Winter War in 1939 consisted of 9 field divisions, 4 brigades and a number of small independent battalions and companies. The Army was organised into three corps.[1] The II and III Corps were organised into the Army of the Isthmus which was located on the Karelian Isthmus, the likely location for the main Soviet Attack. The IV Corps defended the area north of Lake Ladoga. The defence of the rest of the border up to Petsamo by the Arctic Ocean was given to the North Finland Group which consisted of a handful of independent battalions.

In order to organize replacements for the units a Field Replacement Brigade (Kenttätäydennysprikaati, KT-Pr) of nine battalions was formed. But due to the severity of the Soviet attack the battalions had to be used as combat troops. Also three Replacement Divisions or Home Replacement Divisions (1.Koti.TD - 3.Koti.TD) were formed from the available reservists. As the situation became more alarming the 1st and 3rd Replacement Divisions were reformed into the 21st and 23rd Divisions and sent to the front on December 19th. The 2nd Replacement Division was deployed as individual regiments to Northern Finland.

[edit] Winter War Order of battle

[edit] Army of the Isthmus

Army of the Isthmus (Kannaksen Armeija, KannA) under Lieutenant General Hugo Österman was located on the Karelian Isthmus.

  • Reserve
    • 1st Division

Immediately by the border on the isthmus were the four delaying groups named after their location:

  • U-Group at Uusikirkko (including the Cavalry Brigade)
  • M-Group at Muolaa
  • L-Group at Lipola
  • R-Group at Rautu (including the 3rd Brigade of 1st Division)

[edit] Independent formations

IV Corps (IV AK) (in the Ladoga Karelia) under Major General Juho Heiskanen (from 4 December 1939 on Major General Woldemar Hägglund).

  • 12th Division
  • 13th Division

North Finland Group (Pohjois-Suomen Ryhmä) under Major General Wiljo Tuompo.

[edit] Reserves of C-in-C

  • 6th Division (Southern Finland)
  • 9th Division (Northern Finland)
  • Field Replacement Brigade (KT-Pr)

[edit] Organisation Today

Peacetime Organisation of the Finnish Army (click to enlarge)
Peacetime Organisation of the Finnish Army (click to enlarge)
Wartime Brigade Organisation (click to enlarge)
Wartime Brigade Organisation (click to enlarge)
Finnish soldiers skiing.
Finnish soldiers skiing.

The Army is organised into four Military Provinces: southern, western, eastern and northern. The military provnces are responsible for the defence and planning in their areas. The four military provinces are further divided into 22 regional offices or regional military provinces which are responsible for conscription, organizing the local defence and aiding the voluntary defence organizations. The Army is commanded by Ilkka Aspara, who succeeded Olli-Matti Multamäki on January 1 2007.[2][3] The Logistics is centrally planned by the Army Materiel Command, which has one Logistics Regiment in each Military Province.[4]

Military Province of Southern Finland

Guard Jaeger Regiment (Helsinki)
Southern Finland Logistics Regiment

Military Province of Western Finland

Armoured Brigade (Parola)
Häme Regiment (Lahti)
Signals Regiment (Riihimäki)
Pori Brigade (Säkylä) (Readiness brigade)
Artillery Brigade (Niinisalo)
Engineer Regiment (Keuruu)
Western Finland Logistics Regiment

Military Province of Eastern Finland

Karelia Brigade (Vekaranjärvi) (Readiness brigade)
Reserve Officer School (Hamina)
North Karelia Brigade (Kontiolahti)
Eastern Finland Logistics Regiment

Military Province of Northern Finland

Kainuu Brigade (Kajaani) (Readiness brigade)
Jaeger Brigade (Sodankylä)
Lapland Air Defence Regiment (Rovaniemi)
Northern Finland Logistics Regiment

The Utti Jaeger Regiment which trains Para Jägers and Special Jaegers is directly under the Army Command. Since 1998, the amphibious Uusimaa Brigade is part of the Finnish Navy.

[edit] Wartime organization

In wartime, the army is composed of Jaeger, Infantry and Armoured Brigades. Jaeger and infantry brigades serve different wartime purposes, jaegers being more mobile while infantry brigades being equipped with older equipment. Three of the Jaeger brigades are special Readiness brigades with rapid reaction capability. They are more mobile and more heavily armed than the ordinary jaeger brigades, and have a higher proportion of regular to reservist personnel; there is one readiness brigade for each of Finland's 3 territorial commands.

Wartime strength of the Army is 237 000, of which 61 000 are in Operational Units and 176 000 are in Regional Units.

[edit] Equipment

Main articles: Equipment of the Finnish Army and Former equipment of the Finnish Army

[edit] War-time strength

Operational units:

  • 3 Readiness Brigades (Jaeger Brigade 2005 type)
  • 2 Jaeger Brigades (Jaeger Brigade 91 type)
  • 2 Mechanized Battle Groups
  • 2 Motorized Battle Groups
  • 1 Helicopter Battalion
  • 1 Special Forces Battalion (Erikoisjääkäripataljoona)
  • 1 Anti-Aircraft formation

Regional units:

  • 6 Infantry Brigades (Infantry Brigade 80 type)
  • 14 Independent Battalions and Battle Groups
  • 28 Local Defence units and Volunteer reserve units (Maakuntajoukot)

[edit] Major weapon systems used by the army

  • 124 MBTs
  • 392 IFVs
  • 270 APCs (tracked)
  • 424 APCs (wheeled)
  • 2,058 mortars
  • 684 artillery pieces (towed)
  • 90 artillery pieces (self-propelled)
  • 58 MLRS
  • 22 Helicopters (+ 8 for training)
  • 11 UAVs

[edit] References

  1. ^ See The Finnish Army in the Winter War at winterwar.com
  2. ^ Planning of the Broad Structural Reform has begun within the Defence Forces. 3-15-2007. Retrieved 12-4-2008.
  3. ^ Maavoimien rakennemuutos. Retrieved 2-4-2008. (Finnish). The English page gives outdated information, which has been since partly superseded. The Finnish source shows the actual organization of the Army from 2008 onwards.
  4. ^ Huoltojärjestelmä. Finnish Defence Forces. 2007. Retrieved 2-4-2008. (Finnish)

[edit] See also

v • d • e
  Finnish Defence Forces