The Finnish Defence Forces have ordered 13 Sisu GTP 4x4 off-road vehicles from Oy Sisu Auto Ab, with the overall value of the procurement around €9.7m ($10.6m), according to Finland’s Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The MoD stated that the deal was prepared “together with Sweden” as part of cooperation “focusing on the countries’ vehicle systems”, and follows earlier Finnish deals in 2020 and 2022 for 31 Sisu GTP 4x4 vehicles.
“By procuring domestic vehicles, we develop the Army's mobility and secure military security of supply. In addition, the procurement has a significant regional employment effect in Western Uusimaa,” said Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen in a statement.
Although relatively minor, the latest deal is part of an ongoing build up of defence equipment in Finland, despite a fluctuating budget that has seen overall spending from 2021–22 decrease by $0.3bn, according to GlobalData analysis.
However, GlobalData’s current forecast holds that the 2024–28 period will see a total of $37bn spent on defence instead, for a compound annual growth rate of 7% for this period.
This growth is primarily attributed to the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which has seen most European countries redouble defence modernisation efforts, particularly those that share a border with Russia.
Finland itself applied to join Nato in May 2022 and formally joined in April 2023, with its forces now being integrated into the overall command and control structure of the multinational defence alliance.
Notable ongoing procurement programmes for Finland across the domains are the F-35A stealth fighter, the Pohjanmaa–class corvettes, and the multinational Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS) project.
