Quote:
Warhero said:
Thanks about make it clear Zipuli . It's bit weird that Finland still have not "proper" air support for ground forces... Maybe after joining NATO in future?
|
I can't brag about knowing that much about Finnish army (served 4½ out of 6 months in MP company and hvy mortar company before changing to civil service) but I think it's logical in some way. One has to bear in mind that Finland only about 60 (Zipuli might know the exact number) Hornets againts hundrets of fighters our "most probable" enemy has. So in many ways it would be counterproductive to use this valuable asset for ground targets as Finland has - proportionally - stronger ground forces than air forces.
This is also linked to the failed attempt from military to acquire gunships. Maybe they thought that they would first take care of the air defense and then buy gunships to strenghten the defense against ground targets (ah, it would've been neat to use Apache's while playing with Finland). But all this is just my own speculation. I know there's many Finns in this forum that knows better.
As for NATO, I don't see Finland joining any time soon, at least not before 2010. But the truth is that the Finnish army is already compatible with NATO-standarts and when I was there many officers were certain that Finland would join. Well, that was four years ago and now we re-elected a president who is very much against NATO and the public is against joining with about 60% opposing and 25% for it.
Cheers,
Jukka