Brit here. I am SO glad the superb Finland armed forces have joined Nato. And I am SO proud that we are allies, and friends. Finland is a country that, in every respect, sets the example and punches so much above its weight. Suuri kunnioitus Suomea kohtaa!
@@kennethainetdin3401no, it’s perfectly fine, especially because it shouted (!) you could say and spell it in the spoken more common way by dropping the n.
Making a defense pact with UK was one of the things that helped me sleep better at night, it was done very fast and showed how the North does have the ability to unite under pressure, regardless of Brexit's and other shit.
@@yeetusfetus4503 It is colloquial Finnish to leave the 'n' out, that is what it sounds when shouted. But, when written it should have the 'n'. Pedantic, i know but it is better to be accurate than try to spare feelings.
Bejala smert was not Häyhä but it was frozen finnish forrest. Some cases that forrest was much bigger treath to ones life than finnnish machine gunners. And finns used it as advance. Finnish Air Force flew every night trying to find soviet camp fires to put those down and forced troops to flee to their death in dark frozen woods.
@@80talet1 and half of them are In jail now and half of them want to join the Swedish Army for the all have Said Sweden Is there Country for our country want to kill us or dont care about us but Sweden care,🇸🇪
Kanske inte 50% starkare,, men lite alla fall. Numera är ju Sverige också medlem, så alla vi Nordbor är brothers in arms. Måste bara säga att Sveriges militärindustri är imponerande och vi finnar, liksom säkert övriga Nordbor är stolta över er state of art M.industri.
@@annukkakiviranta4356 Sanningen , ni har en väldig respekt med er . Pratar med mycket Finländare , och förvånas över moralen. Ja som svensk skulle jag ju hylla Sverige, men vi är inte på eran nivå än . Finlands beredskap, har alltid varit högre , men vi kan lära oss ifrån er 👍
I give you extra points because you mentioned forest as a defensive aspect. Finland is 78% forest, 20% swamp and 11% lakes, over 180k lakes. At the moment everything is under deep snow. Two week ago temperatures topped at -37C° ot -34F. This weather will kill anyone with sweaty socks. In forest are no easy supplyroutes. Finland has built it's own infrastructure war in mind. In forest technology make's old time trenchwar obsolete. In forest invaders are allowed to have their way in to be separated into smaller groups. In forest defensive side always has the first shot. In forest invaders will feel like someone is always watching.
@@spoonzor1 me neither :D Quick google and it's 78%. Seem's more realistic. Maybe 97 was counting area of total nature? I'm not sure. I'll edit my comment.
@@timomikkola4045 78% forest 20% swamp from all area and 28% swamp from land-only area. 10% of all non-ocean area is lakes and 1% smaller bodies of water. So 11% fresh water areas. Most of the swamp is included in the forests.
Infantry general Adolf Ehrnrooth was visiting England in the 1970s. The English general asked how many Soviet troops are stationed in Finland. - A few hundred thousand, Ehrnrooth answered. - Where are they placed? continued the British general. - To a depth of two meters along the border, Ehrnrooth stated.
"Six feet deep along the border" is a better translation. Not as accurate but rolls of the tongue better. "Six feet deep" is so well known phrase that it puts the right emphasis on it, no one has to figure out what that means...
@@squidcaps4308 it's common saying but Erhnroot was precise. These days random berry pickers find all kind of grim surprices scattered around forests near the border, pushed up by the deepfrost.
@@donaldliden4545 We use metric system also in Finland, which is not part of Scandinavia.. US phrases and idioms are more widespread, and "six feet under" is quite famously know idiom. It just doesn't sound the same as "2 meters underground". It would sound right in Finnish.
Simo Häyhä is the name of the Finnish sniper, known by the Soviets as Belaya smert', the White Death killed over 500 enemy soldiers, using an ordinary Fimmish hunting rifle.
Yeah, Simo refused the military rifle because he simply didn’t like it. He also refused an optical scope because reflections. So just his own hunting rifle and iron sights. Bad ass.
What people might not understand is that we in Finland don't have fear based relationship when it comes to Russia. We have "I fucking dare you" relationship. There is only one direction we have trained to defend for several generations. History shows that you can come over, you might even conquer, but you will never subjugate. Now with NATO backing we don't need to worry we'll run out of ammo.
The four Nordic air forces are already extremely well integrated. And although of course important, this goes beyond number of planes, firepower etc. Think situational awareness, intelligence sharing, the list goes on.
...and on. This Brit LOVES our Nordic friends, and SO respects their armed forces. These guys punch far above their weight, and are precisely the guys you would want alongside you in the trenches, or in the skies, or in the Baltic. Just a bit! And are precisely the guys the Russians should - and I suspect DO - fear.
Yeah, Norwegian F35s could be guarding Finnish borders within an hour or two... Shared airspace means that they wouldn't need permission to hurl through Swedish airspace... the most polite would of course be to announce it to ATC. But the agreement is there already... no need to ask beforehand.
@@adriangoodrich4306NATO members allowed, but since Sweden isn't officially a member yet... they'll need to ask... not that I think SE would say no...
@@BenjaminVestergaard NORDEFCO? Plus the various recent bilateral agreements like the Sweden-UK Defence pact and the Sweden-US Defense Cooperation Agreement? For all practical purposes, I have no doubt that Sweden would play a full role in any defence of Scandinavia. And once that pro-Putin nut- job in Budapest is brought into line, hopefully very soon now, Sweden's NATO membership will anyway be finalised.
Finnish defence forces's soldiers are proud warriors in reserve . All together over 900.000 reservists. War time man power 280.000. Finland was one the few countries that never was occupied during the WWII . Not like Norway , Denmark , Holland etc . Today we are happy together with NATO .
Yeah they kept fighting trough the war if i remember right. Norway just did not have that strong army back then and hitler really wanted those recourses
I'm not sure but the 280k is the number which can be called up, armed and equipped on relatively short notice. 900k is the number of people who have undergone military training, but measures would have to be taken to get them armed and equipped. Most could also probably do with some refresher training. So we have a pretty sizeable reserve force plus twice more for rotation. In the last two years the stockpiles of ammunition and equipment have been filled up as well. _Si vis pacem, para bellum!_
@@BooM-su5yb Because England rejected Finland as an allied. Finland's only option were Hitler. Finland could not stand up against The USSR alone like Ukraine today. While Germany attacked all over the place, Finland attacked nowhere. Why Finland would attack Norway, I don't know
@@lungimies2914 What is the definition difference between "kill" and "death"? (I thought "kill" and "death" referred to the same thing - obviously concepts that must be clarified)
When Finnish person goes to sleep he still keeps one eye open looking at east. Every generation knows that. Also its anticipation rather than fear. Cheers!
Great reaction! Our very well trained 900,000 reserves are too often forgotten about. Our rapid response force of 280,000 is always mentioned. Our National Defense Will and SISU are, in my opinion, the core of Finland.
@@mikorossi1959 Piäppä kloppi suus siistimpänä ku puhuttelet parempias ja korkeampaa rotua.... ..Ylirajajääkäri, sissi lääk. Kainuun rajavartioston rajajääkärikomppania 1/05 kert. -11 sekä -16 ...yksi rajakoira vastaa jo puolustusvoimien Majuria.... I was merely correcting a false statement which you presented
@@mikorossi1959 21 000 conscripts in -23 and the reserves are at -870 000 and on a constant decline as the older larger generations are depleting at and soon the numbers for the annual amount of new conscripts drops below 20 000 as our demographics won't suffice for more. This is also the main driving reason why the politicians are hyping for a compulsory conscription for women as well. A grave mistake in my humble opinion as the real corrective movement would be to have our demographics rise in an "au naturel" way by seriously dumping money and benefits for family units of +4 children...
They trained German troops in winter warfare. They are uncompromising warriors and take no shit whatsoever. The Finns and the Lapps scared the shite out of both the Russian and the German. Seriously. Don't fuck with.
Also the Vikings. There is a story in King Olaf's saga about one of their raids. They were re-soundly beaten back with tail behind their legs. It is a story that repeats a few times, invader arrives and finds only empty huts, no humans around. While returning to their boats the Vikings were ambushed and forced to retreat. And then the forest around the river told that Finns just kept following them at the same pace until they headed out to the sea. And then of course witchcraft on top, Vikings took Finnish magic very seriously. The main lesson here is that Finns decide when and where to fight. This is still the main tactic. In my town our proudest moment was when we beat the Royal Navy in the Skirmish of Halkokari. The story is long, i'll try to be short. During Crimean War in the 1800s British Royal Navy decided to burn Finnish harbors on the Bay of Bothnia, between Sweden and Finland. This was during Russian rule. They started from the North, sacking Oulu and Raahe. Word got to Kokkola (called Gamla Karleby at the time) and plans were made. They constructed a wooden fence between the buildings lining the harbor. Once Royal Navy reached the town, they could not sail to the port with their warships due to the bay being to shallow. They sent an envoy to negotiate the surrender of the town, promising to only burn Russian stockpiles, and all the ships that the shipyards made. Sidenote, a LOT of those ships were actually commissioned by British merchants.. Once the envoy reached the town, they noticed that there were only some dignitaries, women, children and elderly. Looked like the easiest target in the world for the powerful and undefeated Royal Navy. To their surprise, the town refused to surrender. So, it was going to be a battle. Brits send big boats full of men, some 200 with 20 officers. The boats had small cannons but while the main fleet was forced to stay away, not being able to use their big guns this was still a fight between professional modern army and just some peasants... easy. Once the boats had advanced close to the shore, suddenly the wooden fences between warehouses fell down, revealing 100 Russian cavalry and 200 Finnish men, with 10 cannons. It was, to quote the great Admiral Akbar: a trap. Brits were totally outgunned, they could not shoot accurately while Finns peasants, trained in game hunting made a mince meat of the Brits. The battle was over once Mats Kankkonen, the leader of peasant army sniped one of the officers to the head and the ranks broke. The end result was 18 brits dead, 52 captured. Finnish casualties was one horse, and yes, i find this part particularly funny. The town was saved. But there is a epilogue: the captured Brits were invited to a banquet, and it was a night of dancing and music. Then they were sent to St Petersburg and then home after the war. Brits tried again year later but this time the town was well armed and after a 3 hour cannon fire exchange, they had to retreat. Royal navy sent a congratulation letter, praising the tactics and saying that they learn to not underestimate people who are willing to defend their homes again (lol...). And wished that trade was re-established. And that is the story of bunch of peasants defeating the Royal Navy at its height. We still have one of their boats, and the want it back. Royal Navy still pays for the upkeep of grave of their fallen soldiers.
Thank you ! I am an old reservist in Finnish artillery . I did the long way being today a senior lieutenant . With my 75 years , I still want to serve my country . We are now together near 1 million reservists in Finland . Tough guys all.
Maybe one common cliche is that Finland is just a very cold place all the time. Winters can be cold yes but our summers can also be very hot. Temperatures can vary roughly between -40C to +35C (-40F to 95F) all through the country. Finland is a long country so our weather varies a lot.
Hi! Writing from Finland. If you enjoy ww2 stories, be sure to watch "The unknown soldier", pretty much the cornerstone of national spirit. It is based on the continuation war against soviets, and it has been filmed three times in different times. Most recent I believe is from 2020 and it has well made subtitles. And it is probably the best of those. (Unless you crave nostalgy, since the original was shown on our tv every independence day..) Well anyway, if you have not seen the film, you should. That's all. :)
You aren't wrong on that Finland is an extremely inhospitable place for an offensive force. I can't remember if it was a British or American high ranking military person, but after their visit to Finnish armed forces they stated "Finland is a trap, waiting to be sprung." This statement is based on couple of facts including, the high national pride and willingness to defend it. A harsh climate, to which FDF is very prepared for. And the fact that from any feasible direction of attack, meaning "not west", there are very few roads, finland has over 1500 artillery pieces and you betcha these roads are zeroed already and have been for decades. Finnish artillery is kinda legendary tbh, considering it's size, history and even innovations. They will rain hell and fire on anything on their range and they will hit their targets.
A Russian tank invasion like in Ukraine, where there's open plains and roads, would be suicide mission in Finland. There's just bogs, waterways and deep forests. Finns are masters of using the terrain to their advantage. Russians would be caught in guerilla fighting in the woods and would need significantly more than the usual 3:1 ratio to make any gains. They REALLY don't wanna try.
Well, we actually never fully got off from the cold war mode, unlike many other more fortunately located European countries. The 50 thousand bomb shelters for basically all the population, the still pretty universal conscription (like 70-75% of the males serving in every age class), people quite united about the Russian threat etc. This new European crisis has caught us pretty prepared actually...
You are just an anglo-saxon's puppets who will be sent to fight their wars. More military expenditures will only undermine your economy since you are not even investing into your own military industrial complex unlike Russsia for example. _And we are currently rearming like hell, the politicians are okaying all sorts of acquisitions that were financially impossible earlier._ If you think Russia wants to put you on her payroll you are crazy. Your politicians are supremacists. Your country supported Nazi Germany and now they are supporting neo Nazis from Ukraine, people of the same supremacist ideiology. If you play stupid and place US nukes or other offensive missiles that will have few mitutes flight to reach Russia's major cities then those sites simply gonna be destroyed with cruise missiles and Finland or anyone else won't be able to do anything about it, no matter how many soldiers you gather.
Finnish pilots are one of the best in the world, also during ww2 they.. we had one of the best fighter aces which is something people dont really know about. I suggest people who sees this comment googe or look it up.
story about finnish commercial pilots. Finnair was approaching Rome, and they just had a skiff of snow. they were closing the airport. Finnish pilot said "Hell no, we are coming down, and they did!! SISU.
Russians are thinking that Finland join NATO because Finland needs protection. Wrong. Finland joined because NATO needs protection! 😅 Simo Häyhä is the sniper’s name that you are talking about.
As a Finn i have to say that your commentary is well measured and you don't overly speculate but say straight forward if you don't know. Very Finnish approach i have to point out, you sure you don't have drop of Finnish blood in you? 😀
Finnish military is one of the most cost efficient in the world. On par with Israel. Finnish Air Force is not very strong but that is not a problem anymore. There is joint Nordic Airforce initiative that combines Sweden, Norway and Denmark airforces, and that is a significant deterrent for Russia. They really have no match for it, they have the numbers but not the equipment. And Finnish air defense is quite good. BTW, Finland too the gold in NATO sniper competition this year. The decider event was shooting from a dingy at sea, until that event Greece was in the lead. The feedback was praising the calmness under pressure, improvisation and ability to focus on the job.
I have read Finish pilot book and he said that Finland is very respected in global flight trainings because they make there good stuff by defending attacks units.
Thanks for nice reaction video, Connor. About that air capability, we have Nordic Airforce (read: Kalmar Union is back).. [ On 16th March 2023, the four Nordic countries, namely Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden signed the first Nordic Air Commander's Intent (NACI)[i] which aimed at merging the air defenses of all four nations, eventually establishing a 'Unified Nordic Airforce' ] Take care. .... and Slava Ukraini!
We have a family friend who is a dual Finnish/British citizen(we call her Fintish) Her family in Finland live right on the border with Russia. Each time she visits she says people have become more and more worried about Russia but are happy to now be part of Nato.
Reserve here in Finland is 870,000 by the way. On top of that 280,000. If there is a war that turns into an extended conflict, you can also count on several "not fit for active service" people, including women like me to pick up arms and do their part, IF at that point it's better than working in other duties off the front. My wife has the same mentality as well. We both already know how to shoot well (a large caliber Sako rifle and a pistol are the most familiar to us), and life outdoors in all weathers is no stranger to us. I followed closely how my two big brothers went through service, admired their military gear and all. Either way, a training course on functioning as part of a group and on handling gear we aren't familiar with is all we'd need to useful at the front, if really needed. (My illness is the kind that may act up and kill me, risk heightened by physical exertion, but hey, so can a bullet, or a missile strike into our home building, as seen in Ukraine.)
It's hard to tell how well the airforce would work in an actual conflict, planes are expensive and it's a small country. But looking at aviation geeks' comments on Henri Toppari flying his F/A-18 in RIAT, I think there's some serious skill in the flying force.
And if actual conflict happened you can bet that swedish planes are up at least as fast and helping, and norways planes would be flying over sweden to provide back up.
Thank you of this video❤ And this is just of military, I can tell that we have civilians also (including me) that are ready to fight our lifes against enemy🎉
@@UltraCasualPenguin "Proper American pronunciation" of a Finnish name. That's funny. If that's the case, the "proper Finnish pronunciation" of _James Earl Jones_ goes like 'YA-mes E-arl YAW-nes".
@@TheRawrnstuff Wrong. In Finnish "J" is pronounced as "J", "O" is pronounced as "O", "Y" is pronounced as "Y" and so on. Very different from English and very similar to languages like Japanese.
@@UltraCasualPenguin No, you. You missed my entire point. By the rules you set up, I'd have had to say "James Earl Jones is pronounced James Earl Jones", which would not at all have sent the message I was trying to communicate. "Saimou Hay Hah" is equally wrong to "YA-mes E-arl YAW-nes".
There is reason why American Special forces come to practice with the STANDARD military conscripts I worked as contract military instructor so i saw quick a lot US special forces there while also teaching conscripts US has years and years wanted that Finland would join to NATO so they could get into Finlands military training programs In around 7-8 min mark in domentary didnt say that Finland has one of best ground forces compared to another country This is the very reason why EVERY big military exercise here in Finland is very sought after for by our allies, Especially US
I served as a conscript in the Finnish Military in 1993-1994 for 11 months, and reached the rank of Sergeant as a Green Beret, Marine Commando.Finnish conscripts get way better training than the Russian counterparts. Finns have a very high morale when it comes to defending their country. If you count all conscripts, like up to 60+ years of age, our military is almost 1 million strong. So I mean this is not the easiest place to start from if Russia wants to go to war, even though they have a much bigger army. Of course as a NATO country we now have a much bigger responsability of defending the Baltic countries if they get attacked. But so what, I'm ready to defend our southern democratic brothers if it so may. Finland also bought F-35's as a replacement for the F-18's, but we're still waiting for them to be delivered in a year or two.
Simo Häyhä! 😁 From the small and modest Finnish air force during the Second World War, I can mention the Finnish fighter aces and the best of them, Ilmari Juutilainen. 🫡 Juutilainen achieved a total of 94 aerial victories during the wars, and is the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time. He himself claimed further kills for a total of 126 victories, but these were unconfirmed. His older brother, Aarne Juutilainen, who served as battalion commander in the famous Kollaa battle, among other things, and in his unit fought, among others, Finland's most famous sniper, none other than Simo Häyhä. 😂
im suprised they didnt mentino the finish bunker system, like all of finland is one massive big bunker, and these are not tiny once, they have schools, factories, and everything in bunkers.
Knowledge on how to fight a prolonged defensive and offensive war against Russia. We have over a thousand year unbroken generational experience on what and how the Russians fight. After the 2dn WW there were only three Capitols, three countries taking part in Europe which were not occupied; London, Helsinki and Moscow. Weapons wise, our artillery has since the making of this video grown from 1500 units to around 1700 units, the Nordic countries have joined their airforces under joint command. Our government and defense forces have also launched a wartime economy where civilian contractors are manufacturing and procuring military armament and equipment. Some on short term drils lasting weeks and months, others on a minimum of a year basis. Some of the larger NATO countries representatives have claimed their astonishment that we were able to do it in a manner of days notice to the contractors. This is what it means to be prepared as a nation to a comprehensive defense. Our own stockpiles are full, we're also stocking supplies abroad so in a case of a war, they're not under fire effect. We're also in agreement with Ukraine to manufacture and deliver munitions to them to upkeep their defensive actions. Our reservist refreshals are running at an upgraded pace to ready the troops as well. Germans, Brits, Swedes and a lot of other NATO members are still in the process of "waking-up" their general populations to the impending war against Russia where as we are ready for it today, tomorrow and the next week. Just as the Russians have been for the past year or two.... You don't have years, you have this year at the best to get your act together. If you think Russia will wait for you to get up from your slumber and arm-up, you're sorely mistaken. Russia is already armed to their teeth. Putin reportedly wanted to fully attack Ukraine already in 2014-15, but his military wasn't ready for the conflict or the possible war against NATO back then. They are now....
Hey! I must say that you have very good information about the defense of the Baltic Sea countries and their capabilities. There is nothing to note about the details. Sergeant - Coastal Missile Fire Director.
NATO is also an ideological and political alliense. Finland offers other NATO countries training areas and storage relating that training. Especially regarding the Arctic dimension. Also expertise regarding those Arctic capabilities. The geopolitical race is already on to that direction. E.g. Rovajärvi in the northern FInland is the largest practice range in the western Europe, and NATO just ordered-as fundamental things as-skis from a Finnish ski producer: "Talvikoulutusta Jääkäriprikaatissa - Winter warfare training in Jaeger Brigade". Finnish soldiers (Marttinen's Men) took part in developing the US winter warfare capabilities already after the WW2. The video doesn't have English subtitles, but there's English commentary also: "Marttisen miehet: asekätkijäveljet". Then there's Finnish weapon industry. Canada E.g. selected SAKO's rifle as the new sniper weapon for its armed forces in 2022: "How Rifles Are Made | How It's Made (Sako & Tikka GUN PRODUCTION)". Relating the Arctic dimension and maritime, there's ice breaker, ship building and possible submarine know-how: ""Historia | Rauma-Repolan sukelluspallot", "Icebreakers: life on board" and "Icon of the Seas - Vesillelasku". Also sea mine warfare expertise: "The Forgotten Story of the Red Army's Insane 'Soviet DUNKIRK' in WW2" and "German U-745 submarine found gulf of Finland". Then there's cyber technology and intelligence: "Sweden in World War 2 - Operation Stella Polaris", "Nokia | The Rise And Fall [Part 1]" and "The Secret OS That Really Runs The World". On Finnish air force: "RED FLAG - ALASKA", "Ilmavoimien F/A-18 Hornet -soolo RIAT-lentonäytöksessä 2019", "Etsi ja lamauta! | Find and neutralize!" and "Venäjän ilmavoimien radiokeskustelu Suomen F-18 Hornetin tunnistuslennolla". Peacekeeping and diplomatic skills and reputation: "YKSK - Yhdistyneiden Kansakuntien Suomen Komppania 1956-1957 | Finnish UN Company 1956-1957" and "Kekkonens Nightmare". Civil defense know-how: "Why Finland Has 54,000 Nuclear Bunkers". Conscription gives military skill, but then there are civil occupation and interest skills: "Kangasala-Jukola 2019 - Official Aftermovie", "Lapua Team member Raine Peltokoski", "NH: Hirvijahti | Moose hunting | 2019", "Diving into the Unknown extras - Sami Paakkarinen gives his insights into diving" and "Mies joka räjäytti TESLANSA!! Tesla Model S & 30kg dynamiittia",
The Nordic countries have a stronger cooperation in the Nordics than we have with the EU. This may develop into a Nordic Union, but this will be a union of sovereign countries. We can work and do not need a passport to be in each other's countries, unlike the EU. Our embassies cooperate and are often in the same building. Obarma considered us to be a Nordic Union. Due to the threat from Russia, the Nordic countries have doubled our military and are now a well-tested separate unit within NATO, of which the USA is an official part. In the exercises, the American elite troops gained valuable new experience in ice water training. In the future we should call ourselves the Nordic Union, but only by sovereign countries. We will strengthen our cooperation and lower the priority of bureaucracy from the EU in the future. Few other countries can join the Nordic Union if they want the Nordic model and have our mentality, like Scotland. The Baltic countries do not have it yet, but are part of the Nordics anyway.
Thanks for interest. I can sure you that russians never can't go to nato area here in Finland. Our army is strong enough what ever is coming. It's lot what people don't know, of course, but me as all served know, we and you are safe.
Yea you are right. For example compared to Ukraine where there are a lot of empty fields. Finland is mostly covered in forest and lakes. Much harder to launch an attack and easier to defend.
What a lot of people miss about Finnish war preparedness is the home front stuff. Schools still teach basic technical skills as well as textile crafts. Cooking from basic ingredients that can be locally grown. The basic infrastructure is maintained with special emphasis on resilience. People are taught to always have few days worth of preferably shelf stable food at home that they use and rotate. People are always guided to be in a state where they are able to handle taking care of themselves and others around them for a little while. It makes much easier to lead people in any type of crisis.
You mentioned that it is very cold in Finland BUT you forgot that Norway is part of NATO and it is cold there too, the US Navy Seals actually have exercises there in northern Norway and so does the British Royal Marine. Within a few weeks, Sweden will also join NATO and even here in the north of Sweden the winters are cold. American will be in Sweden and then, among other things, in my city Kiruna, which is Sweden's northernmost city. For a few years now, the US Marine Corps actually receives winter training up here, they get to learn to ski, be up in a mountain environment and learn to deal with the cold as well as build snow bivouacs. Sweden and Finland have a strong cooperation several years before NATO membership. Sweden supplies NATO with the most modern and best JAS 39 Gripen combat aircraft and currently there are 94 of them, then the best Submarines available. So it will come then what Sweden contributes to NATO. Sweden and the USA have had close cooperation militarily since 2008 and then it increased in 2016 and then they also started cooperating with other NATO countries. The USA has been in Sweden many times over several years and had joint exercises with the USA. Since then, since 2016, NATO countries began to come and practice in Sweden. Sweden is also in the process of opening up more regiments around Sweden, more will do military service Since Russia has invaded Ukraine, the number of volunteers has increased greatly and that unit is called the Home Guard and are the first to face the enemy until the military arrives. Sweden has something called Civil Obligation and it applies to everyone between the ages of 18 and 70.
JAS gripen is 4th gen fighter, and while it is fast and agile.. F35s are the backbone of the Joint Nordic Airforce. Gripens are VERY handy along with F35s, they complement each other very well. So, saying that JAS Gripen is one of the best 4th gen fighters is true, it still lacks stealth. Its radar cross section is comparable to Russian fighters. But, it is designed for the Nordic, requires very small maintenance and resupply crew and can take off from roads, doesn't need an airstrip. So, together they are very efficient, providing de-centralized airforce. It can be flown close to front lines, resupplied in a middle of nowhere, do the mission and head home. F35s are better up high, Gripen is good down low. One takes care of high value targets and air defenses of the enemy, the other supports troops on the ground.
Norway is way warmer than Finland just because the Gulf Stream that comes from the Gulf of Mexico. It brings warmth from the tropic to Norway. Finland gets the cold 🥶 air from Siberia.
Finland and Sweden signed an agreement last year where Finland starts to train Swedish army so that the conscription is back and that Swedish army meets the standards.
@@verttikoo2052 Finland is not good at purchasing war materiel. Just look at how they chose the 3 times as expensive F35 if I remember it's name correctly, over the JAS 39 Gripen. Also the cost per flight hour is 3 times as expensive as JAS. Since Stridsplan Finland chose, the number of weapons it can be armed with is limited. While the JAS can be armed with all the different weapons available within NATO. Then Finland ordered the Finnish handgun from Finnish SAKO, the only problem is that this weapon is only in drawings, so you don't know how the weapon works. Sweden had apparently also ordered this weapon, but now they have backed out of the deal, as the procurement has gone wrong and they are no longer supposed to have commercial weapons with caliber 7.62 but 5.56. So that Finland would buy from Sweden is not likely.
Bit nippy in ldn too, got down to 6c and blossom only just starting to come out. Love you mad Nordics. Brilliant countries & locals (new arrivals..not so much) but soooo couldn't hack your winters.
Most of men are going to militar service for half year or for full year. However there is still those who have some reason why they have released from service while era of peace. O I forgot. U don't have to go military. U can choose to go to civil cervis instead.
Here is indeed the joke like that, but I had a little different experience. My sergeant was university student and he was complaining more about the meaningless of the army than the rest of us. He was convinced that civiliced men shouldn't have wars in the modern world. He teached us like we would be in the school and raised his voice only once when did the fitness test exceptionally lazy. We had to wake up an hour earlier after that and make 4km punishment run for 3 weeks before breakfast. Finnish people do what must be done, but we aren't particilarly gung ho.
Finland is very experienced country, smaller country sitting right next to Russia, they have a lot of experiences and very good military, it's good to have them in NATO. It's still kind of weird for me to hear that some countries still have conscription in 2024, but they probably have no other option when you consider their population, professional army would be too small to protect them from such giant like Russia and they have to take it seriously when they have border with them and Russia already attacked them several times. I am really thankfull that these countries have conscription, so we don't have to, as a Czech born in 1991, I can't really imagine that, it was 2 years before they removed conscription here.
@@tehokotkat We actually had conscription until 2004, I thought they removed it directly after revolution, but it was here for much longer time than I thought.
In free democracy you have freedoms but you also have responsibilities. And if you are not ready to fight a war for your freedom you can and eventually will lose your freedom. Unprovoked attacks are old russian imperialistic habbit. You should know this as well as we know here in Finland.
@@perkele2802 I am pretty sure that in case of war, half of people will immediately emmigrate to avoid military service. 😀 We can see it even with Ukrainians, they are hiding here and we can't deport them because it's illegal by some international law, you can't send them to war.
Yes the training grounds were close to town of Leadville here in Colorado the 10th Mountain Division - Camp Hale, there is a bronze plate on still existing concrete structures on the site to remember and appreciate Finnish instructors! Finn from Colorado.
Simo Häyhä was the sniper... But how and why our military forces is what it is. After WW2 Finland was forced by Soviet Union to be non allied. Soviets were always dangerous and we submitted in the way the world knows as "Finlandization". We were humble and co-operative neighbor to Soviet Union but in the same time we had a chance and need to keep our military strong. Soviet Union collapsed in the 90's but as we were still non-allied we continued to keep the military strong. That's how we are here today. The debate of weather to join Nato or not has continued over decade and as our president Niinistö said to Russians: "Look at the mirror, you caused this (by attacking Ukraine)".
Finland is covered in impenetrable forests and tens of thousands lakes and rivers and it make it a hell on earth for hostile nations and their forces and having winter that lasts half of the year and I’m sure every single soviet war veteran who was sent here and managed to survive till to the end of the war would agree that the conditions in here and our will to defend our country is not something that they would ever recommend for the future generations to try tampered with. To put perspective to the horrific war between Finland and Soviets, Nikita Khrushchev said that 1.5 million soldiers were sent into battle in Finland and 1 million of them were killed. To quote Soviet Red Army general after few months in war “We have won just about enough ground to bury our dead." To put their losses in context, Finland suffered a 50k casualties in the same period of time. No wonder that our grandparents told us that 1 Finn is equivalent of 10 Russians.
I think just this week we saw a big difference in military doctrine between Finland and countries in the Balkan. Countries in Balkan are starting to erect walls at their borders and "will stop the enemy there at the border", while in Finland some higher up said that we don't do it, we let them come in a bit and on our own terms and advantages defeat them. I find it interesting. As a Finn I have 100% confidence in FDF and of course would be there myself as well defending if our oh so friendly neighbor tried to invade us unprovoked, *again*. Greetings from Finland.
Our reserve army is most well-trained military forces in the world. All of our more than 900,000 soldiers have top-notch military training and are ready to defeat the enemy. Of course, there are some idiots and other simpleminded (in our military slang we call these=töhö wich means a stupid soldier), but they also too have their own tasks at the front, such as clearing landmines or serving real soldiers. But basically in here everyone has one of the best military training in the world and because of that it's not wise to attack here. Actually we defend Sweden and Norway from direct invasion, so they should thank us for keeping their country safe. No one here believes that Russia will attack against the nordic countries. They are not even able to win the war in Ukraine. Russia was supposed to win the war in Ukraine in three days, but Russia has only been the losing side since first days of invasion. They've already lost more than 10,000 MBTs and other vehicles and almost a million soldiers in wounded and killed in action. The war will be over within couple years and russia will lose it. We Finns could easily beat them and no one doubts it except some putinists and traitors who fled from our reserve and oppose NATO
As a Finn i have to say that we had things going very well with Russia for a long long time. Almost all the anger and hate from ww2 was kind of gone when veterans passed. And russian people have never shown any kind of aggression towards us. Neither have us shown nothing but respect towards them. It's just frustrating how things turned out. The direction was so good for so long. I personally fear nothing more that war. But this cold small country is our home. And we will be protecting it, alone or with allies. Thanks for everyone who are willin to stand with us.
Nato actually benefits from Finland.. not sure if it is the other way around. Imho, being unbiased has been one of the better things after WW2. And we have been a "neutral ground" for people to meet. Now that is gone.
8:30 to be fair. I prefer to be in cold weather over hot weather because of the personal defense equipment we need to use. In hot weather conditions, it will be painful. ;)
Our Airforce is good even in Winter war even we didn't have many planes! Focker D.XXI was our best and modern fighter! Also we have still good snipers if I remember right in October last year was sniper competition in Germany and even USA teams was there! Finns won and Americans wasn't even top 3!
Meanwhile in Denmark a Danish politician proposed a redline to Russia, with an answering mashine saying. "We surrender". AND Denmark saves 4% GDP on millitary expenses.
Around 7 minutes you make a point that, by looking how much country enlists it's citizens, you can see where in the world is higher chance of conflicts and while I agree about the hostility of the countries involved, it's almost the opposite. Attacking a country with huge reserves is like poking a bees nest. That is the best defence tool of our country and that's why we have enlisted this much since second world war.
If you say anything wrong? Nah... We are (I'm middle aged Finn) pretty unwelcoming in more than one sense. Let's take a pint or two and you'll see how friendly we can be. Try to invade us... well, Soviets learned the lesson. This was my first video from you and I must say, you are not the stereotypical American we've seen. And what Finland brought to NATO? I think we brought (finally) a geopolitical defeat to Putin he had begged for ages. Of course he wanted quick wins, but he got us into the alliance. (I waited / hoped for it for three decades.) Peace. (Yeah, your domestic politics are messed up right now, but let's hope Ukraine gets peace too. Real one.)
Finland did not join NATO to get soldiers from other nations to fight for it. By joining NATO, Finland expects to receive material support and intelligence information. In the last wars, Finland was largely alone and the only party that gave support was not a good option, mostly a dictatorship similar to the Soviet Union. In the last war Finland fought, the USA supported the Soviet Union, and the weapons supplied by the USA and the UK to the Soviet Union were used against Finland as well. By joining NATO, this will not happen again, but Finland will receive support from these countries as well as from other NATO members.
Having a consuming war like it is now in Ukraine, that is the thing we need support for, material support. We fight as one, everyone of us. One mind, one purpose..to keep our loved ones safe, to keep our land safe...that is all what matters. There is nowhere to run, we stand or fall together. Thank U for the video, good to have NATO and allies like you.
Can you please react to Freddie starr what I say live An Audience with Freddie Starr 1996 Freddie starr and Des O'Connor 2th appearance 1983 Freddie starr and Des O'Connor 4th appearance 1986 Another Audience With Freddie Starr 1997 Freddie starr and Des O'Connor 5th appearance 1987 Freddie starr And Des O'Connor 7th Appearance 1989 Freddie starr and Des O'Connor 10th appearance 1994 Freddie Starr the Legend is back 1997
Finland needed Nato for numbers, like reserve men and ammo replenish. Well, intel too, but that Finland kind of had from the earlier cooperation. Nato on the other hand needed Finland for knowhow. Finland has been keeping its defences up while a lot of Nato members have been slacking badly or somehow felt too secure. Now Finland's expertise is valuable, as other Nato members have awaken to the harsh reality that there is a chance of an armed conflict.
Norway here I'm ashamed that Finland broke their promise to Russia and joined Nato. They would not be a country if they didn't give that promise after they lost their Nazi-friend war in ww2
Oh yeah I forgot Finns train other countries to arctic warfare and before Republicans new write history Finns trained first trainers for United States spesial forces speciality arctic warfare! This happened after 2. WORLD WAR!
![Cody Johnson - I'm Gonna Love You (with Carrie Underwood) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/yy9PuYMU29g/mqdefault.jpg)
Brit here. I am SO glad the superb Finland armed forces have joined Nato. And I am SO proud that we are allies, and friends. Finland is a country that, in every respect, sets the example and punches so much above its weight. Suuri kunnioitus Suomea kohtaa!
Spelling error! Should be "Suomea kohtaan".
Good job they still do national service.. our stupid government have made so many cuts to our armed forces that we wouldn't last a week in conflict..
@@kennethainetdin3401no, it’s perfectly fine, especially because it shouted (!) you could say and spell it in the spoken more common way by dropping the n.
Making a defense pact with UK was one of the things that helped me sleep better at night, it was done very fast and showed how the North does have the ability to unite under pressure, regardless of Brexit's and other shit.
@@yeetusfetus4503 It is colloquial Finnish to leave the 'n' out, that is what it sounds when shouted. But, when written it should have the 'n'. Pedantic, i know but it is better to be accurate than try to spare feelings.
1:06 The White Death
- Simo Häyhä -
Yes that’s him 🙏
Bejala smert was not Häyhä but it was frozen finnish forrest. Some cases that forrest was much bigger treath to ones life than finnnish machine gunners. And finns used it as advance. Finnish Air Force flew every night trying to find soviet camp fires to put those down and forced troops to flee to their death in dark frozen woods.
This guy used to be just one random notable soldier among many until internet made him god.
Was the 100 day war
@@jukkakopol7355Belaya Smert was Simo Häyhä. Kyllä sun Suomalaisena perkele pitäis tietää.
One thing to mention that Finland still has one of best snipers in world. Finland snipers won sniper Nato contest 2023.
Really!? Didn´t know that. Thanks!
Yes they did... And Simo Häyhä would be happy. @@samspencer582
Y'know we gotta make Simo proud ;P
Yeah, our guerilla units sniper won my age class shooting competition with Dragunov - other snipers had Sako as their service weapon.
❤😊
Everybody is gangster until the snow starts talking.
I love my Finnish 🇫🇮 brothers and sisters! Love from Sweden 🇸🇪
Don't mess with us in Scandinavia. 🇳🇴🇫🇮🇩🇰🇸🇪 and Iceland. 🙂
And I love all Nordic countries + Baltic countries as well! Greetings from Finland
Yes Swedish citizens have a reputation as very tough. Especially known through out the immigrant community in Sweden.
@@80talet1 and half of them are In jail now and half of them want to join the Swedish Army for the all have Said Sweden Is there Country for our country want to kill us or dont care about us but Sweden care,🇸🇪
🤘
@@80talet1 yes they practice bombing every week.
As a Swede...N.A.T.O did get 50% stronger . Finnish people don't surrender, they accept, adapt ...and strike back .. RESPECT.
Welcome to NATO Sweden, greetings from Finland. :)
Kanske inte 50% starkare,, men lite alla fall. Numera är ju Sverige också medlem, så alla vi Nordbor är brothers in arms.
Måste bara säga att Sveriges militärindustri är imponerande och vi finnar, liksom säkert övriga Nordbor är stolta över er state of art M.industri.
Love you guys! My Swedish brothers.
Tackar och bockar från Finland.
@@annukkakiviranta4356 Sanningen , ni har en väldig respekt med er . Pratar med mycket Finländare , och förvånas över moralen. Ja som svensk skulle jag ju hylla Sverige, men vi är inte på eran nivå än . Finlands beredskap, har alltid varit högre , men vi kan lära oss ifrån er 👍
I give you extra points because you mentioned forest as a defensive aspect.
Finland is 78% forest, 20% swamp and 11% lakes, over 180k lakes.
At the moment everything is under deep snow. Two week ago temperatures topped at -37C° ot -34F. This weather will kill anyone with sweaty socks.
In forest are no easy supplyroutes. Finland has built it's own infrastructure war in mind.
In forest technology make's old time trenchwar obsolete.
In forest invaders are allowed to have their way in to be separated into smaller groups.
In forest defensive side always has the first shot.
In forest invaders will feel like someone is always watching.
Finland is something 70-80% forest, one of the highest in the world still, I dont know where u get 97% from?
@@spoonzor1 me neither :D
Quick google and it's 78%. Seem's more realistic. Maybe 97 was counting area of total nature? I'm not sure. I'll edit my comment.
78 + 20 + 11. Quite high amount of area.
@@timomikkola4045
78% forest
20% swamp from all area and 28% swamp from land-only area.
10% of all non-ocean area is lakes and 1% smaller bodies of water. So 11% fresh water areas.
Most of the swamp is included in the forests.
@@spoonzor1he wrote 78% forrest so who your talking about saying 97%
Infantry general Adolf Ehrnrooth was visiting England in the 1970s.
The English general asked how many Soviet troops are stationed in Finland.
- A few hundred thousand, Ehrnrooth answered.
- Where are they placed? continued the British general.
- To a depth of two meters along the border, Ehrnrooth stated.
"Six feet deep along the border" is a better translation. Not as accurate but rolls of the tongue better. "Six feet deep" is so well known phrase that it puts the right emphasis on it, no one has to figure out what that means...
@@squidcaps4308 it's common saying but Erhnroot was precise. These days random berry pickers find all kind of grim surprices scattered around forests near the border, pushed up by the deepfrost.
And this is not just a story. So he answered and russians duly lost hundreds of thousands of their troops + the wounded.
@@squidcaps4308we use metricsystem in Scandinavia
@@donaldliden4545 We use metric system also in Finland, which is not part of Scandinavia.. US phrases and idioms are more widespread, and "six feet under" is quite famously know idiom. It just doesn't sound the same as "2 meters underground". It would sound right in Finnish.
Simo Häyhä is the name of the Finnish sniper, known by the Soviets as Belaya smert', the White Death killed over 500 enemy soldiers, using an ordinary Fimmish hunting rifle.
Yeah, Simo refused the military rifle because he simply didn’t like it. He also refused an optical scope because reflections. So just his own hunting rifle and iron sights. Bad ass.
Famous nazi in Finland?
Yep... Mosin nagant with iron sight. Then he had a machine gun... and he was Affective with that one too 🙌🏻
And yet he stayed humble. ”I was told what to do and I just did my best”.
Simo häyhä or THE White Death
Fins are as tough as hell!...glad to have these guys on board!..🇬🇧👍
I didint go to army that i would fight in Nato forces
@@FINMrCurly Defeatist!
@@FINMrCurly Well, we defend also ****** like you
These guys you see in this film as "Border Guards" are bad ass. They seem like farm boys but they are special forces.
Yep
What people might not understand is that we in Finland don't have fear based relationship when it comes to Russia. We have "I fucking dare you" relationship. There is only one direction we have trained to defend for several generations. History shows that you can come over, you might even conquer, but you will never subjugate. Now with NATO backing we don't need to worry we'll run out of ammo.
The four Nordic air forces are already extremely well integrated. And although of course important, this goes beyond number of planes, firepower etc. Think situational awareness, intelligence sharing, the list goes on.
...and on. This Brit LOVES our Nordic friends, and SO respects their armed forces. These guys punch far above their weight, and are precisely the guys you would want alongside you in the trenches, or in the skies, or in the Baltic. Just a bit! And are precisely the guys the Russians should - and I suspect DO - fear.
Yeah, Norwegian F35s could be guarding Finnish borders within an hour or two...
Shared airspace means that they wouldn't need permission to hurl through Swedish airspace... the most polite would of course be to announce it to ATC.
But the agreement is there already... no need to ask beforehand.
@@adriangoodrich4306NATO members allowed, but since Sweden isn't officially a member yet... they'll need to ask... not that I think SE would say no...
@@BenjaminVestergaard NORDEFCO? Plus the various recent bilateral agreements like the Sweden-UK Defence pact and the Sweden-US Defense Cooperation Agreement? For all practical purposes, I have no doubt that Sweden would play a full role in any defence of Scandinavia. And once that pro-Putin nut- job in Budapest is brought into line, hopefully very soon now, Sweden's NATO membership will anyway be finalised.
@@BenjaminVestergaardmiljöpartiet kommer att gråta över avgaserna det blir väl det värsta antar jag😂
Finnish defence forces's soldiers are proud warriors in reserve . All together over 900.000 reservists. War time man power 280.000.
Finland was one the few countries that never was occupied during the WWII . Not like Norway , Denmark , Holland etc .
Today we are happy together with NATO .
Norway were occupied by Germany but Norway never surrendered.
Yeah they kept fighting trough the war if i remember right. Norway just did not have that strong army back then and hitler really wanted those recourses
And Finland was on The same side as germany so we didn't have to worry about them (mostly)
I'm not sure but the 280k is the number which can be called up, armed and equipped on relatively short notice.
900k is the number of people who have undergone military training, but measures would have to be taken to get them armed and equipped. Most could also probably do with some refresher training.
So we have a pretty sizeable reserve force plus twice more for rotation. In the last two years the stockpiles of ammunition and equipment have been filled up as well.
_Si vis pacem, para bellum!_
@@BooM-su5yb Because England rejected Finland as an allied. Finland's only option were Hitler. Finland could not stand up against The USSR alone like Ukraine today. While Germany attacked all over the place, Finland attacked nowhere. Why Finland would attack Norway, I don't know
Finnish Air Force participated in the Red Flag Alaska 2019 exercise. Their F-18 Hornets got the highest K/D ratio compared to other countries.
What is K/D?
@@bjorncedervall5291kill/death ratio
@@lungimies2914 What is the definition difference between "kill" and "death"? (I thought "kill" and "death" referred to the same thing - obviously concepts that must be clarified)
@@bjorncedervall5291 it's video game term. kill is when you kill enemy. death is when they nailed you.
@@Benderkekekekekeke OK - thank you for the clarification.
When Finnish person goes to sleep he still keeps one eye open looking at east. Every generation knows that.
Also its anticipation rather than fear. Cheers!
Great reaction! Our very well trained 900,000 reserves are too often forgotten about. Our rapid response force of 280,000 is always mentioned. Our National Defense Will and SISU are, in my opinion, the core of Finland.
870 000 reserves with a wartime rotational strength of 280 000 comprising of all the military branches. Not a rapid response....
@@JPPVESA You seem to be at the bottom of Trolls' salaries.
@@JPPVESA 2023: 900000. Every year, 22,000 soldiers are trained. - Anti-Tank Jaeger Rossi.
@@mikorossi1959 Piäppä kloppi suus siistimpänä ku puhuttelet parempias ja korkeampaa rotua.... ..Ylirajajääkäri, sissi lääk. Kainuun rajavartioston rajajääkärikomppania 1/05 kert. -11 sekä -16 ...yksi rajakoira vastaa jo puolustusvoimien Majuria....
I was merely correcting a false statement which you presented
@@mikorossi1959 21 000 conscripts in -23 and the reserves are at -870 000 and on a constant decline as the older larger generations are depleting at and soon the numbers for the annual amount of new conscripts drops below 20 000 as our demographics won't suffice for more. This is also the main driving reason why the politicians are hyping for a compulsory conscription for women as well. A grave mistake in my humble opinion as the real corrective movement would be to have our demographics rise in an "au naturel" way by seriously dumping money and benefits for family units of +4 children...
They trained German troops in winter warfare. They are uncompromising warriors and take no shit whatsoever. The Finns and the Lapps scared the shite out of both the Russian and the German. Seriously. Don't fuck with.
Also the Vikings. There is a story in King Olaf's saga about one of their raids. They were re-soundly beaten back with tail behind their legs. It is a story that repeats a few times, invader arrives and finds only empty huts, no humans around. While returning to their boats the Vikings were ambushed and forced to retreat. And then the forest around the river told that Finns just kept following them at the same pace until they headed out to the sea. And then of course witchcraft on top, Vikings took Finnish magic very seriously. The main lesson here is that Finns decide when and where to fight. This is still the main tactic.
In my town our proudest moment was when we beat the Royal Navy in the Skirmish of Halkokari. The story is long, i'll try to be short.
During Crimean War in the 1800s British Royal Navy decided to burn Finnish harbors on the Bay of Bothnia, between Sweden and Finland. This was during Russian rule. They started from the North, sacking Oulu and Raahe. Word got to Kokkola (called Gamla Karleby at the time) and plans were made. They constructed a wooden fence between the buildings lining the harbor. Once Royal Navy reached the town, they could not sail to the port with their warships due to the bay being to shallow. They sent an envoy to negotiate the surrender of the town, promising to only burn Russian stockpiles, and all the ships that the shipyards made. Sidenote, a LOT of those ships were actually commissioned by British merchants.. Once the envoy reached the town, they noticed that there were only some dignitaries, women, children and elderly. Looked like the easiest target in the world for the powerful and undefeated Royal Navy.
To their surprise, the town refused to surrender. So, it was going to be a battle.
Brits send big boats full of men, some 200 with 20 officers. The boats had small cannons but while the main fleet was forced to stay away, not being able to use their big guns this was still a fight between professional modern army and just some peasants... easy.
Once the boats had advanced close to the shore, suddenly the wooden fences between warehouses fell down, revealing 100 Russian cavalry and 200 Finnish men, with 10 cannons. It was, to quote the great Admiral Akbar: a trap. Brits were totally outgunned, they could not shoot accurately while Finns peasants, trained in game hunting made a mince meat of the Brits. The battle was over once Mats Kankkonen, the leader of peasant army sniped one of the officers to the head and the ranks broke.
The end result was 18 brits dead, 52 captured. Finnish casualties was one horse, and yes, i find this part particularly funny. The town was saved. But there is a epilogue: the captured Brits were invited to a banquet, and it was a night of dancing and music. Then they were sent to St Petersburg and then home after the war. Brits tried again year later but this time the town was well armed and after a 3 hour cannon fire exchange, they had to retreat. Royal navy sent a congratulation letter, praising the tactics and saying that they learn to not underestimate people who are willing to defend their homes again (lol...). And wished that trade was re-established.
And that is the story of bunch of peasants defeating the Royal Navy at its height. We still have one of their boats, and the want it back. Royal Navy still pays for the upkeep of grave of their fallen soldiers.
Thank you ! I am an old reservist in Finnish artillery . I did the long way being today a senior lieutenant . With my 75 years , I still want to serve my country . We are now together near 1 million reservists in Finland . Tough guys all.
Maybe one common cliche is that Finland is just a very cold place all the time. Winters can be cold yes but our summers can also be very hot. Temperatures can vary roughly between -40C to +35C (-40F to 95F) all through the country. Finland is a long country so our weather varies a lot.
That is True
If this summer is anywhere close to +30C, I'm going to die D:
Hi! Writing from Finland. If you enjoy ww2 stories, be sure to watch "The unknown soldier", pretty much the cornerstone of national spirit. It is based on the continuation war against soviets, and it has been filmed three times in different times. Most recent I believe is from 2020 and it has well made subtitles. And it is probably the best of those. (Unless you crave nostalgy, since the original was shown on our tv every independence day..) Well anyway, if you have not seen the film, you should. That's all. :)
You aren't wrong on that Finland is an extremely inhospitable place for an offensive force. I can't remember if it was a British or American high ranking military person, but after their visit to Finnish armed forces they stated "Finland is a trap, waiting to be sprung."
This statement is based on couple of facts including, the high national pride and willingness to defend it. A harsh climate, to which FDF is very prepared for. And the fact that from any feasible direction of attack, meaning "not west", there are very few roads, finland has over 1500 artillery pieces and you betcha these roads are zeroed already and have been for decades. Finnish artillery is kinda legendary tbh, considering it's size, history and even innovations. They will rain hell and fire on anything on their range and they will hit their targets.
A Russian tank invasion like in Ukraine, where there's open plains and roads, would be suicide mission in Finland. There's just bogs, waterways and deep forests. Finns are masters of using the terrain to their advantage. Russians would be caught in guerilla fighting in the woods and would need significantly more than the usual 3:1 ratio to make any gains. They REALLY don't wanna try.
@@mv_5878 yup. I was designated In "querrila" or sissi In finnish when I was drafted and it was still a thing. I can vouch. Havuja perkele.
Well, we actually never fully got off from the cold war mode, unlike many other more fortunately located European countries. The 50 thousand bomb shelters for basically all the population, the still pretty universal conscription (like 70-75% of the males serving in every age class), people quite united about the Russian threat etc. This new European crisis has caught us pretty prepared actually...
And we are currently rearming like hell, the politicians are okaying all sorts of acquisitions that were financially impossible earlier.
Wish i could say the same 😐🇸🇪
You are just an anglo-saxon's puppets who will be sent to fight their wars. More military expenditures will only undermine your economy since you are not even investing into your own military industrial complex unlike Russsia for example.
_And we are currently rearming like hell, the politicians are okaying all sorts of acquisitions that were financially impossible earlier._
If you think Russia wants to put you on her payroll you are crazy. Your politicians are supremacists. Your country supported Nazi Germany and now they are supporting neo Nazis from Ukraine, people of the same supremacist ideiology. If you play stupid and place US nukes or other offensive missiles that will have few mitutes flight to reach Russia's major cities then those sites simply gonna be destroyed with cruise missiles and Finland or anyone else won't be able to do anything about it, no matter how many soldiers you gather.
@@qwineth hys hys
You are in trouble when the forest starts to talk Finnish.
Finnish pilots are one of the best in the world, also during ww2 they.. we had one of the best fighter aces which is something people dont really know about. I suggest people who sees this comment googe or look it up.
story about finnish commercial pilots. Finnair was approaching Rome, and they just had a skiff of snow. they were closing the airport. Finnish pilot said "Hell no, we are coming down, and they did!! SISU.
Are you sure your an American? Your geography skills seems to be way to good to be an American :D Greetings from Finland!
I thought I heard a slighty Finnish accent
Russians are thinking that Finland join NATO because Finland needs protection. Wrong. Finland joined because NATO needs protection! 😅
Simo Häyhä is the sniper’s name that you are talking about.
As a Finn i have to say that your commentary is well measured and you don't overly speculate but say straight forward if you don't know. Very Finnish approach i have to point out, you sure you don't have drop of Finnish blood in you? 😀
Finnish military is one of the most cost efficient in the world. On par with Israel. Finnish Air Force is not very strong but that is not a problem anymore. There is joint Nordic Airforce initiative that combines Sweden, Norway and Denmark airforces, and that is a significant deterrent for Russia. They really have no match for it, they have the numbers but not the equipment. And Finnish air defense is quite good.
BTW, Finland too the gold in NATO sniper competition this year. The decider event was shooting from a dingy at sea, until that event Greece was in the lead. The feedback was praising the calmness under pressure, improvisation and ability to focus on the job.
Suomalainen sotilas on kova jätkä!
Conscription is cost-effective
three times decorated Simo Häyh was mortally wounded, half of his face blown off. but he miraculOusly survived. he died in 2002, aged 96.
Funny fact: He lived longer than Soviet Union 😁
@@Aanaartu born before the soviets, died after the soviets
Finland decided to join the Nato and Finns told the Swedish that btw you are joining too 🥳🤭
Gud vad dryg du är
By the way, the world's best sniper who was a Finn was called: Simo Häyhä
I have read Finish pilot book and he said that Finland is very respected in global flight trainings because they make there good stuff by defending attacks units.
During WW2, and since then, Finnish air force slapped like no other.
1-119 kill count, with 100s of planes downed.
Thanks for nice reaction video, Connor.
About that air capability, we have Nordic Airforce (read: Kalmar Union is back)..
[ On 16th March 2023, the four Nordic countries, namely Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden signed the first Nordic Air Commander's Intent (NACI)[i] which aimed at merging the air defenses of all four nations, eventually establishing a 'Unified Nordic Airforce' ]
Take care. .... and Slava Ukraini!
Lauri Törni is also a pretty famous Finnish soldier with an interesting story. He died in the vietnam war
We have a family friend who is a dual Finnish/British citizen(we call her Fintish) Her family in Finland live right on the border with Russia. Each time she visits she says people have become more and more worried about Russia but are happy to now be part of Nato.
She talks a lot of shit then.
Reserve here in Finland is 870,000 by the way. On top of that 280,000. If there is a war that turns into an extended conflict, you can also count on several "not fit for active service" people, including women like me to pick up arms and do their part, IF at that point it's better than working in other duties off the front. My wife has the same mentality as well. We both already know how to shoot well (a large caliber Sako rifle and a pistol are the most familiar to us), and life outdoors in all weathers is no stranger to us. I followed closely how my two big brothers went through service, admired their military gear and all. Either way, a training course on functioning as part of a group and on handling gear we aren't familiar with is all we'd need to useful at the front, if really needed.
(My illness is the kind that may act up and kill me, risk heightened by physical exertion, but hey, so can a bullet, or a missile strike into our home building, as seen in Ukraine.)
Finland have an outstanding, modern military and I am proud we're all part of NATO
It's hard to tell how well the airforce would work in an actual conflict, planes are expensive and it's a small country. But looking at aviation geeks' comments on Henri Toppari flying his F/A-18 in RIAT, I think there's some serious skill in the flying force.
And if actual conflict happened you can bet that swedish planes are up at least as fast and helping, and norways planes would be flying over sweden to provide back up.
Thank you of this video❤
And this is just of military, I can tell that we have civilians also (including me) that are ready to fight our lifes against enemy🎉
1:18 the sniper is simo häyhä/ the white death btw :)
Yes 🙌 ty
Proper American pronounciation is Saimou Hay Hah.
@@UltraCasualPenguin "Proper American pronunciation" of a Finnish name. That's funny.
If that's the case, the "proper Finnish pronunciation" of _James Earl Jones_ goes like 'YA-mes E-arl YAW-nes".
@@TheRawrnstuff Wrong. In Finnish "J" is pronounced as "J", "O" is pronounced as "O", "Y" is pronounced as "Y" and so on. Very different from English and very similar to languages like Japanese.
@@UltraCasualPenguin No, you. You missed my entire point. By the rules you set up, I'd have had to say "James Earl Jones is pronounced James Earl Jones", which would not at all have sent the message I was trying to communicate.
"Saimou Hay Hah" is equally wrong to "YA-mes E-arl YAW-nes".
There is reason why American Special forces come to practice with the STANDARD military conscripts
I worked as contract military instructor so i saw quick a lot US special forces there while also teaching conscripts
US has years and years wanted that Finland would join to NATO so they could get into Finlands military training programs
In around 7-8 min mark in domentary didnt say that Finland has one of best ground forces compared to another country
This is the very reason why EVERY big military exercise here in Finland is very sought after for by our allies,
Especially US
I am so proud that i was born in Finland right now!🇫🇮🔥
I served as a conscript in the Finnish Military in 1993-1994 for 11 months, and reached the rank of Sergeant as a Green Beret, Marine Commando.Finnish conscripts get way better training than the Russian counterparts. Finns have a very high morale when it comes to defending their country. If you count all conscripts, like up to 60+ years of age, our military is almost 1 million strong. So I mean this is not the easiest place to start from if Russia wants to go to war, even though they have a much bigger army. Of course as a NATO country we now have a much bigger responsability of defending the Baltic countries if they get attacked. But so what, I'm ready to defend our southern democratic brothers if it so may. Finland also bought F-35's as a replacement for the F-18's, but we're still waiting for them to be delivered in a year or two.
I was there (1. jk) in 1991-1992.
@@perkele2802 I was in 2.jk. Kerran rannikkojääkäri, aina rannikkojääkäri!
Simo Häyhä! 😁
From the small and modest Finnish air force during the Second World War, I can mention the Finnish fighter aces and the best of them, Ilmari Juutilainen. 🫡
Juutilainen achieved a total of 94 aerial victories during the wars, and is the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time. He himself claimed further kills for a total of 126 victories, but these were unconfirmed.
His older brother, Aarne Juutilainen, who served as battalion commander in the famous Kollaa battle, among other things, and in his unit fought, among others, Finland's most famous sniper, none other than Simo Häyhä. 😂
🇪🇦Welcome to the party, amigo 🇫🇮💪🏻
As a Finn, it was super nice to watch this and hear your thoughts 🙌🏻
9:00 The landscape is full of small lakes which helps out in defending it.
im suprised they didnt mentino the finish bunker system, like all of finland is one massive big bunker, and these are not tiny once, they have schools, factories, and everything in bunkers.
those are for civilian use, military may have their own bunkers but no one really knows
@@freezedeve3119 ya that to, wich means bombing and such and finland just move down in the bunkers.
Knowledge on how to fight a prolonged defensive and offensive war against Russia. We have over a thousand year unbroken generational experience on what and how the Russians fight. After the 2dn WW there were only three Capitols, three countries taking part in Europe which were not occupied; London, Helsinki and Moscow.
Weapons wise, our artillery has since the making of this video grown from 1500 units to around 1700 units, the Nordic countries have joined their airforces under joint command.
Our government and defense forces have also launched a wartime economy where civilian contractors are manufacturing and procuring military armament and equipment. Some on short term drils lasting weeks and months, others on a minimum of a year basis. Some of the larger NATO countries representatives have claimed their astonishment that we were able to do it in a manner of days notice to the contractors. This is what it means to be prepared as a nation to a comprehensive defense. Our own stockpiles are full, we're also stocking supplies abroad so in a case of a war, they're not under fire effect.
We're also in agreement with Ukraine to manufacture and deliver munitions to them to upkeep their defensive actions.
Our reservist refreshals are running at an upgraded pace to ready the troops as well.
Germans, Brits, Swedes and a lot of other NATO members are still in the process of "waking-up" their general populations to the impending war against Russia where as we are ready for it today, tomorrow and the next week. Just as the Russians have been for the past year or two....
You don't have years, you have this year at the best to get your act together. If you think Russia will wait for you to get up from your slumber and arm-up, you're sorely mistaken. Russia is already armed to their teeth. Putin reportedly wanted to fully attack Ukraine already in 2014-15, but his military wasn't ready for the conflict or the possible war against NATO back then. They are now....
Hey! I must say that you have very good information about the defense of the Baltic Sea countries and their capabilities. There is nothing to note about the details.
Sergeant - Coastal Missile Fire Director.
Simo Häyhä, AKA the white death
NATO is also an ideological and political alliense. Finland offers other NATO countries training areas and storage relating that training. Especially regarding the Arctic dimension. Also expertise regarding those Arctic capabilities. The geopolitical race is already on to that direction. E.g. Rovajärvi in the northern FInland is the largest practice range in the western Europe, and NATO just ordered-as fundamental things as-skis from a Finnish ski producer: "Talvikoulutusta Jääkäriprikaatissa - Winter warfare training in Jaeger Brigade". Finnish soldiers (Marttinen's Men) took part in developing the US winter warfare capabilities already after the WW2. The video doesn't have English subtitles, but there's English commentary also: "Marttisen miehet: asekätkijäveljet". Then there's Finnish weapon industry. Canada E.g. selected SAKO's rifle as the new sniper weapon for its armed forces in 2022: "How Rifles Are Made | How It's Made (Sako & Tikka GUN PRODUCTION)". Relating the Arctic dimension and maritime, there's ice breaker, ship building and possible submarine know-how: ""Historia | Rauma-Repolan sukelluspallot", "Icebreakers: life on board" and "Icon of the Seas - Vesillelasku". Also sea mine warfare expertise: "The Forgotten Story of the Red Army's Insane 'Soviet DUNKIRK' in WW2" and "German U-745 submarine found gulf of Finland". Then there's cyber technology and intelligence: "Sweden in World War 2 - Operation Stella Polaris", "Nokia | The Rise And Fall [Part 1]" and "The Secret OS That Really Runs The World". On Finnish air force: "RED FLAG - ALASKA", "Ilmavoimien F/A-18 Hornet -soolo RIAT-lentonäytöksessä 2019", "Etsi ja lamauta! | Find and neutralize!" and "Venäjän ilmavoimien radiokeskustelu Suomen F-18 Hornetin tunnistuslennolla". Peacekeeping and diplomatic skills and reputation: "YKSK - Yhdistyneiden Kansakuntien Suomen Komppania 1956-1957 | Finnish UN Company 1956-1957" and "Kekkonens Nightmare". Civil defense know-how: "Why Finland Has 54,000 Nuclear Bunkers". Conscription gives military skill, but then there are civil occupation and interest skills: "Kangasala-Jukola 2019 - Official Aftermovie", "Lapua Team member Raine Peltokoski", "NH: Hirvijahti | Moose hunting | 2019", "Diving into the Unknown extras - Sami Paakkarinen gives his insights into diving" and "Mies joka räjäytti TESLANSA!! Tesla Model S & 30kg dynamiittia",
The Nordic countries have a stronger cooperation in the Nordics than we have with the EU. This may develop into a Nordic Union, but this will be a union of sovereign countries. We can work and do not need a passport to be in each other's countries, unlike the EU. Our embassies cooperate and are often in the same building. Obarma considered us to be a Nordic Union.
Due to the threat from Russia, the Nordic countries have doubled our military and are now a well-tested separate unit within NATO, of which the USA is an official part. In the exercises, the American elite troops gained valuable new experience in ice water training.
In the future we should call ourselves the Nordic Union, but only by sovereign countries. We will strengthen our cooperation and lower the priority of bureaucracy from the EU in the future. Few other countries can join the Nordic Union if they want the Nordic model and have our mentality, like Scotland. The Baltic countries do not have it yet, but are part of the Nordics anyway.
Thanks for interest. I can sure you that russians never can't go to nato area here in Finland. Our army is strong enough what ever is coming. It's lot what people don't know, of course, but me as all served know, we and you are safe.
Finn reservist here. Best asset we have is endurance. all that fancy shit can go
But we will go with whatever we have.
Yea you are right.
For example compared to Ukraine where there are a lot of empty fields. Finland is mostly covered in forest and lakes. Much harder to launch an attack and easier to defend.
What a lot of people miss about Finnish war preparedness is the home front stuff. Schools still teach basic technical skills as well as textile crafts. Cooking from basic ingredients that can be locally grown. The basic infrastructure is maintained with special emphasis on resilience. People are taught to always have few days worth of preferably shelf stable food at home that they use and rotate. People are always guided to be in a state where they are able to handle taking care of themselves and others around them for a little while. It makes much easier to lead people in any type of crisis.
You mentioned that it is very cold in Finland BUT you forgot that Norway is part of NATO and it is cold there too, the US Navy Seals actually have exercises there in northern Norway and so does the British Royal Marine. Within a few weeks, Sweden will also join NATO and even here in the north of Sweden the winters are cold. American will be in Sweden and then, among other things, in my city Kiruna, which is Sweden's northernmost city. For a few years now, the US Marine Corps actually receives winter training up here, they get to learn to ski, be up in a mountain environment and learn to deal with the cold as well as build snow bivouacs. Sweden and Finland have a strong cooperation several years before NATO membership. Sweden supplies NATO with the most modern and best JAS 39 Gripen combat aircraft and currently there are 94 of them, then the best Submarines available. So it will come then what Sweden contributes to NATO. Sweden and the USA have had close cooperation militarily since 2008 and then it increased in 2016 and then they also started cooperating with other NATO countries. The USA has been in Sweden many times over several years and had joint exercises with the USA. Since then, since 2016, NATO countries began to come and practice in Sweden. Sweden is also in the process of opening up more regiments around Sweden, more will do military service Since Russia has invaded Ukraine, the number of volunteers has increased greatly and that unit is called the Home Guard and are the first to face the enemy until the military arrives. Sweden has something called Civil Obligation and it applies to everyone between the ages of 18 and 70.
JAS gripen is 4th gen fighter, and while it is fast and agile.. F35s are the backbone of the Joint Nordic Airforce. Gripens are VERY handy along with F35s, they complement each other very well. So, saying that JAS Gripen is one of the best 4th gen fighters is true, it still lacks stealth. Its radar cross section is comparable to Russian fighters. But, it is designed for the Nordic, requires very small maintenance and resupply crew and can take off from roads, doesn't need an airstrip. So, together they are very efficient, providing de-centralized airforce. It can be flown close to front lines, resupplied in a middle of nowhere, do the mission and head home. F35s are better up high, Gripen is good down low. One takes care of high value targets and air defenses of the enemy, the other supports troops on the ground.
Norway is way warmer than Finland just because the Gulf Stream that comes from the Gulf of Mexico. It brings warmth from the tropic to Norway. Finland gets the cold 🥶 air from Siberia.
Finland and Sweden signed an agreement last year where Finland starts to train Swedish army so that the conscription is back and that Swedish army meets the standards.
Finland needs to buy couple of those excellent Swedish subs asap 🎉
@@verttikoo2052 Finland is not good at purchasing war materiel. Just look at how they chose the 3 times as expensive F35 if I remember it's name correctly, over the JAS 39 Gripen. Also the cost per flight hour is 3 times as expensive as JAS. Since Stridsplan Finland chose, the number of weapons it can be armed with is limited. While the JAS can be armed with all the different weapons available within NATO. Then Finland ordered the Finnish handgun from Finnish SAKO, the only problem is that this weapon is only in drawings, so you don't know how the weapon works. Sweden had apparently also ordered this weapon, but now they have backed out of the deal, as the procurement has gone wrong and they are no longer supposed to have commercial weapons with caliber 7.62 but 5.56. So that Finland would buy from Sweden is not likely.
🇫🇮🇫🇮🇫🇮
it wasent so cold last night.. only -32 degrees celcius :D (greets from Finland)
Bit nippy in ldn too, got down to 6c and blossom only just starting to come out.
Love you mad Nordics. Brilliant countries & locals (new arrivals..not so much) but soooo couldn't hack your winters.
About that sisu everyone is talking when referred to Finns. Its said that when the last drop of hope is gone, sisu kicks in.
I would describe it like - Where relentlessness ends sisu starts
wish we had conscription here in Australia, it would solve an awful lot of problems
Im am scout military engineer corporal and I was told that my expected life in battlefield is 3 minutes... hope the was never comes
Most of men are going to militar service for half year or for full year. However there is still those who have some reason why they have released from service while era of peace. O I forgot. U don't have to go military. U can choose to go to civil cervis instead.
Is true that theyr is a saying " the enemy is so vast and my land so small were will I buried them all ?
Here is indeed the joke like that, but I had a little different experience. My sergeant was university student and he was complaining more about the meaningless of the army than the rest of us. He was convinced that civiliced men shouldn't have wars in the modern world. He teached us like we would be in the school and raised his voice only once when did the fitness test exceptionally lazy. We had to wake up an hour earlier after that and make 4km punishment run for 3 weeks before breakfast. Finnish people do what must be done, but we aren't particilarly gung ho.
Finland is very experienced country, smaller country sitting right next to Russia, they have a lot of experiences and very good military, it's good to have them in NATO. It's still kind of weird for me to hear that some countries still have conscription in 2024, but they probably have no other option when you consider their population, professional army would be too small to protect them from such giant like Russia and they have to take it seriously when they have border with them and Russia already attacked them several times. I am really thankfull that these countries have conscription, so we don't have to, as a Czech born in 1991, I can't really imagine that, it was 2 years before they removed conscription here.
Conscription is ON, cause ruSSian neighbor is full small-minded evil dictatorship.
@@tehokotkat We actually had conscription until 2004, I thought they removed it directly after revolution, but it was here for much longer time than I thought.
In free democracy you have freedoms but you also have responsibilities. And if you are not ready to fight a war for your freedom you can and eventually will lose your freedom. Unprovoked attacks are old russian imperialistic habbit. You should know this as well as we know here in Finland.
@@perkele2802 I am pretty sure that in case of war, half of people will immediately emmigrate to avoid military service. 😀 We can see it even with Ukrainians, they are hiding here and we can't deport them because it's illegal by some international law, you can't send them to war.
Early fifty's Winter warfare training in USA was done by Finnish ww2 veterans.
Yes the training grounds were close to town of Leadville here in Colorado the 10th Mountain Division - Camp Hale, there is a bronze plate on still existing concrete structures on the site to remember and appreciate Finnish instructors! Finn from Colorado.
Simo Häyhä was the sniper... But how and why our military forces is what it is. After WW2 Finland was forced by Soviet Union to be non allied. Soviets were always dangerous and we submitted in the way the world knows as "Finlandization". We were humble and co-operative neighbor to Soviet Union but in the same time we had a chance and need to keep our military strong. Soviet Union collapsed in the 90's but as we were still non-allied we continued to keep the military strong. That's how we are here today. The debate of weather to join Nato or not has continued over decade and as our president Niinistö said to Russians: "Look at the mirror, you caused this (by attacking Ukraine)".
Actually, Finns can muster almost 1mil reserve to service. Im one those and happily to serve so my son can live happy life.
greetings from Finland 🇫🇮
Finland is covered in impenetrable forests and tens of thousands lakes and rivers and it make it a hell on earth for hostile nations and their forces and having winter that lasts half of the year and I’m sure every single soviet war veteran who was sent here and managed to survive till to the end of the war would agree that the conditions in here and our will to defend our country is not something that they would ever recommend for the future generations to try tampered with. To put perspective to the horrific war between Finland and Soviets, Nikita Khrushchev said that 1.5 million soldiers were sent into battle in Finland and 1 million of them were killed. To quote Soviet Red Army general after few months in war “We have won just about enough ground to bury our dead." To put their losses in context, Finland suffered a 50k casualties in the same period of time. No wonder that our grandparents told us that 1 Finn is equivalent of 10 Russians.
I think just this week we saw a big difference in military doctrine between Finland and countries in the Balkan. Countries in Balkan are starting to erect walls at their borders and "will stop the enemy there at the border", while in Finland some higher up said that we don't do it, we let them come in a bit and on our own terms and advantages defeat them. I find it interesting.
As a Finn I have 100% confidence in FDF and of course would be there myself as well defending if our oh so friendly neighbor tried to invade us unprovoked, *again*.
Greetings from Finland.
Our reserve army is most well-trained military forces in the world. All of our more than 900,000 soldiers have top-notch military training and are ready to defeat the enemy. Of course, there are some idiots and other simpleminded (in our military slang we call these=töhö wich means a stupid soldier), but they also too have their own tasks at the front, such as clearing landmines or serving real soldiers. But basically in here everyone has one of the best military training in the world and because of that it's not wise to attack here. Actually we defend Sweden and Norway from direct invasion, so they should thank us for keeping their country safe. No one here believes that Russia will attack against the nordic countries.
They are not even able to win the war in Ukraine. Russia was supposed to win the war in Ukraine in three days, but Russia has only been the losing side since first days of invasion. They've already lost more than 10,000 MBTs and other vehicles and almost a million soldiers in wounded and killed in action. The war will be over within couple years and russia will lose it. We Finns could easily beat them and no one doubts it except some putinists and traitors who fled from our reserve and oppose NATO
Now we have Sweaden navy! And You mean Simo Hayha , 505 conf. Kills at winter war, plus other kills by smg. Its allmoust to 800 kills
Finnish air force at 2 world war are legendary...they fly Brewster Buffalos and kill rate are huge:)
The sniper was Simo hayha
As a Finn i have to say that we had things going very well with Russia for a long long time.
Almost all the anger and hate from ww2 was kind of gone when veterans passed.
And russian people have never shown any kind of aggression towards us. Neither have us shown nothing but respect towards them.
It's just frustrating how things turned out. The direction was so good for so long.
I personally fear nothing more that war.
But this cold small country is our home. And we will be protecting it, alone or with allies.
Thanks for everyone who are willin to stand with us.
their navy is small but proud, but air force is real kick ass, the pilots are some of the best in the world
Nato actually benefits from Finland.. not sure if it is the other way around. Imho, being unbiased has been one of the better things after WW2. And we have been a "neutral ground" for people to meet. Now that is gone.
8:30 to be fair. I prefer to be in cold weather over hot weather because of the personal defense equipment we need to use. In hot weather conditions, it will be painful. ;)
- The sniper in short winter war was Simo Häyhä.
Our Airforce is good even in Winter war even we didn't have many planes! Focker D.XXI was our best and modern fighter! Also we have still good snipers if I remember right in October last year was sniper competition in Germany and even USA teams was there! Finns won and Americans wasn't even top 3!
Meanwhile in Denmark a Danish politician proposed a redline to Russia, with an answering mashine saying. "We surrender".
AND Denmark saves 4% GDP on millitary expenses.
Around 7 minutes you make a point that, by looking how much country enlists it's citizens, you can see where in the world is higher chance of conflicts and while I agree about the hostility of the countries involved, it's almost the opposite. Attacking a country with huge reserves is like poking a bees nest. That is the best defence tool of our country and that's why we have enlisted this much since second world war.
The Finnish sniper's name was Simo Häyhä, he fought in winter war in 1939-1940
If you say anything wrong?
Nah... We are (I'm middle aged Finn) pretty unwelcoming in more than one sense. Let's take a pint or two and you'll see how friendly we can be. Try to invade us... well, Soviets learned the lesson.
This was my first video from you and I must say, you are not the stereotypical American we've seen.
And what Finland brought to NATO? I think we brought (finally) a geopolitical defeat to Putin he had begged for ages. Of course he wanted quick wins, but he got us into the alliance. (I waited / hoped for it for three decades.)
Peace. (Yeah, your domestic politics are messed up right now, but let's hope Ukraine gets peace too. Real one.)
Finland did not join NATO to get soldiers from other nations to fight for it. By joining NATO, Finland expects to receive material support and intelligence information. In the last wars, Finland was largely alone and the only party that gave support was not a good option, mostly a dictatorship similar to the Soviet Union. In the last war Finland fought, the USA supported the Soviet Union, and the weapons supplied by the USA and the UK to the Soviet Union were used against Finland as well. By joining NATO, this will not happen again, but Finland will receive support from these countries as well as from other NATO members.
It does get Cold here in Finland but its pretty safe here and got safer when Finland joined Nato
Having a consuming war like it is now in Ukraine, that is the thing we need support for, material support. We fight as one, everyone of us. One mind, one purpose..to keep our loved ones safe, to keep our land safe...that is all what matters. There is nowhere to run, we stand or fall together. Thank U for the video, good to have NATO and allies like you.
Can you please react to
Freddie starr what I say live
An Audience with Freddie Starr 1996
Freddie starr and Des O'Connor 2th appearance 1983
Freddie starr and Des O'Connor 4th appearance 1986
Another Audience With Freddie Starr 1997
Freddie starr and Des O'Connor 5th appearance 1987
Freddie starr And Des O'Connor 7th Appearance 1989
Freddie starr and Des O'Connor 10th appearance 1994
Freddie Starr the Legend is back 1997
Simo Häyhä the sniper! Thanks and hello from Finland!
Finland needed Nato for numbers, like reserve men and ammo replenish. Well, intel too, but that Finland kind of had from the earlier cooperation. Nato on the other hand needed Finland for knowhow. Finland has been keeping its defences up while a lot of Nato members have been slacking badly or somehow felt too secure. Now Finland's expertise is valuable, as other Nato members have awaken to the harsh reality that there is a chance of an armed conflict.
Suomi 🇫🇮🇫🇮🇫🇮🇫🇮🇫🇮
It wasn't WWI nor WWII. It was the winter war between the Soviet Union and Finland in 1939.
Which is one of the many wars making up a part of WWII. WWII was not one single big war, but many separate wars in different parts of the world.
Soviet parlance separates Winter War from WW2.
The sniper name is Simo häyhä he killd 500 pepol ad you gan trust me gos im form finlad
Norway here I'm ashamed that Finland broke their promise to Russia and joined Nato. They would not be a country if they didn't give that promise after they lost their Nazi-friend war in ww2
Learn your history Ivan, also Norway is not part of Russia, Ivan, learn your geography too 😂
takes 45 sec from finland to help in estonia if needed atm =) in air
Oh yeah I forgot Finns train other countries to arctic warfare and before Republicans new write history Finns trained first trainers for United States spesial forces speciality arctic warfare! This happened after 2. WORLD WAR!
The sniper was Simo Häyhä. 532 kills.