Why Is Finland Building These Strange Ships?#

In choosing the name for the new class of ships, the authors of the Finnish Fleet 2020 plan demonstrated the same flexibility and cunning in calling the new, most powerful warships since independence “corvettes” as the Kriegsmarine did in the late 1920s and 1930s, when Nazi Germany was building “Pocket Battleships” to circumvent the Versailles Treaty limitations.

The conventional line between corvettes, littoral ships, and frigates—warships capable of oceangoing operations—is constantly shifting, but currently corvettes typically displace no more than 3,000 tons. The Finnish frigate-corvette, or corvette-frigate, displaces 4,500 tons, with no specification as to whether it’s standard or full displacement, which automatically classifies it as a frigate, albeit with limited endurance. The armament capacity of the 117-meter-long Finnish corvette also matches that of a frigate.

So, in three years, NATO naval forces in the Baltic will be reinforced by four brand-new, powerful Finnish Navy ships, which, especially with the service life extensions of six other ships, will tip the balance against Russia’s Baltic Fleet. On the other hand, the armament of Finnish frigates, NOT CORVETTES, is primarily defensive, without the ability to launch long-range missile strikes against targets deep behind a potential enemy’s lines, which in the eyes of the Finnish military and politicians is only Russia.

Main Characteristics of the Finnish Program#

The Finnish Navy is replacing some of its current ships with four multi-role corvettes, which together form the Pohjanmaa class. The corvettes are designed for the changing conditions of the Baltic Sea and will form the backbone of the country’s maritime defense.

The Pohjanmaa-class project is also known as the Fleet 2020 project.

The Pohjanmaa-class corvettes will ensure that the Navy is capable of carrying out its statutory defense tasks in the future and will control the sea and archipelago areas that are important for operations. The ships will be equipped with versatile capabilities, thanks to which they will be able to operate in various conditions and missions, also for long periods of time. The corvettes are suitable for use in maritime operations throughout the year, for example defending against maritime attacks, sea minelaying, underwater warfare, and protecting sea communications.

Construction Progress#

In January 2026, all four corvettes are already under construction. The Navy will deploy the corvettes in stages during 2027–2029.

Construction of the first ship began in October 2023 and it was launched in May 2025. The ship’s outfitting at the Rauma shipyard is still ongoing. Construction of the fourth ship began in January 2026.

The corvettes are being built by Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) and its subsidiary RMC Defence. The vessels are ordered by the Finnish Defense Forces Logistics Department. Operational readiness will be achieved in 2029 and the new ships are intended to be in service until the 2050s.

Ships to Be Replaced#

The Pohjanmaa-class multi-purpose corvettes will replace seven ships. These are four Rauma-class corvettes, two Hämeenmaa-class minelayers, and the previously decommissioned Pohjanmaa-class minelayer. The ships in service are still capable of performing their tasks and their life cycle continues. However, the methods of modern warfare are evolving and new capabilities are required.

The Largest Warship in Finnish History Will Be Equipped in Rauma#

The Pohjanmaa-class multi-purpose corvettes are 117 meters long and 16 meters wide. The corvette’s displacement is approximately 4,500 tons, which corresponds to the standard displacement of the Russian Navy’s new frigate, the Admiral Gorshkov, which is 18 meters longer (135 and 117 meters) and 40 centimeters (16.4 and 16.0) wider than the Finnish one.

The Framework Is in Place#

The ship’s equipment includes, for example, accommodation facilities. The ship will have a crew of around 70 people, so a lot of bunks will be installed there, among other things. Enroth says that additional accommodation capacity will also be provided according to the requirements of the current mission.

Enroth points out that the ship is capable of operating at sea continuously for 14 days and traveling 3,500 nautical miles, or 6,482 kilometers. Sleeping facilities alone are therefore not enough, and there will be two messes, i.e. dining rooms, and saunas.

However, the largest and most capable warship in Finnish history is not a cruise ship.

“The only windows are the bridge screens. This does not mean that you cannot see out of the ship, but rather that a comprehensive video and surveillance system enables this,” Enroth points out.

“There are 17 screens in the ship’s bridge,” explains Commodore (retd) Timo Ståhlhammar, project director at Rauma Marine Constructions.

A modern warship requires a huge amount of equipment, even beyond the reach of the eye. Enroth says that tens of thousands of kilometers of electrical cable alone are installed on the Pohjanmaa-class ship.

According to Enroth, however, the majority of the ship’s equipment and components had already been installed on the ship before the May launching ceremony. For example, the piping was largely installed in place already during the block phase, when the hull had not yet been assembled.

“The ship is built from a total of 22 separate blocks, which have been welded together to form a 117-meter-long and 16-meter-wide ship. The mast forms the ship’s 23rd section and the only one that is not made of steel but of composite,” Enroth specifies.

Top-Class Performance#

The ships are not only the largest in the history of the Navy, but also the most capable. The weapons systems are naturally modern, but the propulsion system is also new.

“CODELAG (Combined Diesel Electric and Gas), i.e. the combined propulsion system of gas turbines and electric motors, enables flexible and mission-specific operational capability. The systems can be used flexibly and energy-efficiently,” Enroth says.

Enroth clarifies that the shipyard is responsible for the ship’s equipment and technical functionality. Swedish Saab, which is mainly responsible for the ship’s combat systems, is simultaneously continuing the preparatory work for their introduction.

The backbone of the Pohjanmaa-class weapon system is Saab’s 9LV combat control system. It supports three-dimensional warfare, enabling combat in the air, on the surface and below the surface.

The Israeli Gabriel anti-ship missile and the Swedish Torped 47 torpedo are used as weapons against surface ships and submarines.

Finland will apparently purchase the latest known Gabriel variant, the Mk 5, which is also called the ‘Advanced Surface Attack Missile’ (ASAM). It is believed to have entered service in 2007. This missile is reportedly deployed on the Israeli Navy’s Eilat Saar 5 corvettes. It has an estimated range of 200–400 km, which is more than enough for the Baltic theater of war.

The Torped 47 or SLWT (Saab Lightweight Torpedo) is a new lightweight torpedo intended for ASW and surface targets, providing multiple-target active/passive homing combined with wire guidance. It is designed and manufactured by Saab Dynamics as a replacement for the Torped 45.

The torpedo is designed for the Swedish Navy and it will be equipped with both a passive and an active homing device and use wire communication like the Torped 45, using a galvanic wire (later also an optical wire).

In addition, sea mines enable an impact on the surface and below the surface. In connection with the launching ceremony, Minister of Defense Antti Häkkänen was particularly proud that the sea mines are Finnish.

“Of course, the sea mines come from Finland, as the best sea mines in the world are Finnish as a result of lengthy technological development,” Häkkänen said in his speech in May 2025.

The military advisers forgot to tell the Minister of Defense, a lawyer by training, that Finland was not and is not a leader in the technology and effectiveness of naval mines and ranks fifth in the world in this indicator, which is very good for a small European country whose population is smaller than the population of any of the 13 largest cities in China.

Russia is an undisputed global leader in mine warfare, maintaining a vast, modernized arsenal of “influence” mines, such as the MDM series (MDM-1 to MDM-5), designed for seabed deployment to trigger on magnetic, acoustic, or hydrodynamic signatures. The technology is highly effective for both offensive and defensive operations across the Baltic, Black Sea, and Arctic regions.

At the heart of the air battle on the new Finnish corvette, on the other hand, is the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile designed by the American Raytheon.

The RIM-162 Evolved Seasparrow Missile (ESSM) is a medium-range, surface-to-air interceptor designed to counter high-speed antiship cruise missiles, protect naval vessels against antiship cruise missiles (ASCM), low-velocity air threats (LVAT) such as drones and helicopters, and high-speed maneuverable surface threats.

The ship’s performance is therefore enormous. However, it has been managed to be dimensioned to a compact size.

“Ships with similar performance in the world are easily 30–40 meters longer,” Enroth points out.

Enroth says that the weapon systems will undergo an extensive commissioning phase and will eventually be integrated into Saab’s combat system management system.

“The weapon systems will be installed before delivery and fully operational in connection with the ship’s IOC (Initial Operational Capability) in 2027,” Enroth specifies.

Enroth says that the ship’s operation will be tested extensively before it is handed over to the Defense Forces.

“The shipyard is responsible for testing and manning the ship until the ship is handed over. The Defense Forces Logistics Department and the Navy participate in the testing phase by monitoring that the systems function properly and that they have been built in accordance with the agreements.”

Source:

• Merivoimat (in Finnish)
• Ruotuvaki (in Finnish)