Interesting Military Videos

I've found the Finnish Defense Forces to produce high-quality videos usually about training exercises. Unfortunately, current degradation of the European security environment has made this topic all too relevant. I really hope it does not get any worse than it already is, although to prevent it from doing just that, one must be prepared for anything.

This one shows how the Finnish Air Force uses road strips for operations. The current combat aircraft are F/A-18 Hornets used, designed and built by McDonnell-Douglas and mainly used by the US Navy and US Marine Corps. The Swedish Air Force also uses road strip bases. It is difficult to take out a large number of such bases. It takes dozens of cruise missiles to put an regular airbase out of operation and there are many such road strips suitable for operating from. The F/A-18 has been in use since 1992.

The fleet of 64 F/A-18s operated by Finland is nearing the end of its life and will be replaced by 64 F-35 Lightnings in 2025. The F-35 was picked after a very rigorous selection process. It turned out to be a cost effective solution thanks to a lot of the early problems being ironed out. Germany has also decided to purchase F-35's to replace its aging Tornados. Modern warfare relies very much on sensor technology, information processing and sharing. Up-to-date shared situational awareness enables successful combine arms operations. The F-35 is the most developed platform of all in its capabilities in that domain in addition to its stealth properties. It needs no external pods for sensors and it has weapons bays inside the air frame capable of carrying all the weapons it needs.

Here's general discussion on the selection process:

The following video depicts a possible scenario how a war might start. Elements of note are the mobilization system and how a crisis can involve the use of hybrid methods. Finland is geographically large and must have a large reserve. It is currently about 250,000 strong out of a population of 5.5 million. Circa 900,000 people have had military training. The terrain is difficult for an invader as the number of potential corridors into the country are limited particularly for heavy armored columns. Much of the country is forested and dotted with numerous lakes and rivers. The strategy is to use territorial forces to hit soft targets like supply convoys and to limit the attackers movement and corral it into a terrain suitable for the the most strike-capable of the regular forces to deliver a crushing blow in order to force the attacker to negotiate. Few non-military people know it but Finland has the second largest powerful artillery after Russia. For a long time, official statistics underplayed the number of artillery pieces, which is 1,500. Poland is a distant third at 700.

The coast is a nightmare for those seeking unauthorized entry. My late maternal grandparents had a summer cabin on an island in the region of Central Ostrobothnia on the northwestern coast. We'd leave our cars at a small fish harbor and get on a small boat capable of comfortably carrying half a dozen or so people with luggage. Navigating the boat through the six-kilometer journey was a bit difficult despite the small size of the boat because of all the underwater rocks. Despite tides being negligible in the Baltic Sea, the water level is still variable depending on the direction of sustained winds. 20 cm could make the difference between a small rock being visible or not. Safe navigation required learning all the rocks by heart.

Finland only has a littoral navy whose mission is to protect the coast. It is notable that the Soviet Union did not attempt a landing in Finland during WW 2 at all. Only Germany did in September 1944, namely on the island of Gogland in the Gulf of Finland after Finland had entered into an armistice agreement with the Soviet Union in September 1944. That was not successful.

Finally, a video with very cool explosions filmed at a close distance:

P.S. This is how it looks and sounds like when you're under an artillery barrage. The sound of shrapnels is weird.