US-Finnish defense pact could bolster Nordic F-35 footprint

MILAN — U.S. forces could gain access to a number of military bases near Russian borders if ongoing negotiations with Finland on a Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) prove successful.

Finnish newspaper Helsinki Sanomat reported this month that the proposed agreement may allow for military infrastructure investments in the country, which could benefit the region’s fleet of Lockheed Martin-made F-35 warplanes.

“It is too early to speculate on this, but theoretically it [the DCA] could for example, include access to a maintenance hall for F-35 fighters,” Mikael Antell, deputy director general at the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, told the newspaper.

Helsinki placed an order last year to purchase 64 F-35s from Lockheed Martin to replace its F-18 Hornet fleet, with deliveries set to begin in 2026.

Last September, the United States and Finland announced plans to negotiate a pact to strengthen bilateral security cooperation. The agreement would provide a framework and legal basis for U.S. forces to obtain entry into the country and streamline the use of agreed facilities to conduct activities for their mutual defense. These could range from joint training to temporary maintenance of vessels and aircraft and could also include the temporary deployment of soldiers and storing of prepositioned equipment.

According to a statement published by the Finnish government at the time, negotiations are not expected to be completed before the fall and could go into the new year. Once finalized, the DCA will be submitted to the Finnish parliament for approval.

Matti Pesu, senior research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, does not expect much pushback from decision-makers regarding the endorsement of this deal.

“There is strong public and political support for NATO membership in Finland and the evolving defense relationship with the U.S. is also seen favorably,” he told Defense News. “There will likely be minor voices in parliament who’d like to keep a certain distance between the two, but any serious rejection is unlikely.”

Pesu adds that through closer cooperation with Washington, Finland’s “most important ally for potential reinforcements,” the Nordic country hopes to host more American troops for exercises to increase interoperability.

F-35-related investments are one of the advantages neighboring Norway is getting through a supplementary DCA it signed with the U.S. in 2021 that entered into force last year. This March, the Norwegian MoD revealed that Washington is investing USD $188 million into the Rygge airport – where some of the country’s F-35s are kept – to build four fighter hangars with associated facilities, warehouses, increased capacity for ammunition storage and fence parts of the air station with a patrol road.

Rygge is one of four agreed Norwegian areas that U.S. forces have “unimpeded” access to, per the agreement text. These facilities also include the Evenes and Sola air stations as well as the Ramsund Naval Station. The agreement has an initial term of ten years and is not a permanent deployment.

It remains to be seen how the U.S.-Finnish negotiations could come into play or help facilitate the recent goal laid out by Nordic nations to jointly operate their air forces and pool together their resources in the face of a heightened Russian threat.

Moscow is sure to be closely monitoring the growing defense relationship. However, Pesu says that besides indicating its displeasure of the DCA through diplomatic rhetoric or military signaling such as airspace violations, he does not anticipate any further response from the Kremlin.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——如果与芬兰就防务合作协议 (DCA) 进行的谈判取得成功，美军将能够使用俄罗斯边境附近的一些军事基地。

芬兰报纸《赫尔辛基日报》本月报道称，拟议的协议可能会允许对该国进行军事基础设施投资，这可能会使该地区洛克希德·马丁公司制造的 F-35 战机机队受益。

芬兰外交部副部长米凯尔·安特尔告诉该报：“现在对此进行推测还为时过早，但理论上（国防合同）可能包括使用F-35战斗机的维修车间。”

赫尔辛基去年向洛克希德·马丁公司订购了 64 架 F-35 战斗机，以取代其 F-18 大黄蜂战斗机机队，预计将于 2026 年开始交付。

去年九月，美国和芬兰宣布计划就一项旨在加强双边安全合作的协议进行谈判。该协议将为美军进入芬兰提供框架和法律依据，并简化双方商定设施的使用，以开展共​​同防御活动。这些活动可能包括联合训练、舰艇和飞机的临时维护，也可能包括士兵的临时部署和预置装备的储存。

根据芬兰政府当时发表的声明，谈判预计在秋季之前无法完成，可能会持续到新年。一旦最终定稿，《发展合作协议》将提交芬兰议会批准。

芬兰国际事务研究所高级研究员马蒂·佩苏预计，决策者们不会对这项协议的批准提出太多反对意见。

“芬兰民众和政界对加入北约的支持力度很大，芬兰与美国不断发展的防务关系也受到欢迎，”他告诉《防务新闻》。“议会中可能会有一些人希望与美国保持一定距离，但不太可能出现严重的反对意见。”

佩苏补充说，芬兰希望通过与华盛顿（芬兰“最重要的潜在增援盟友”）更紧密的合作，接待更多美军进行演习，以提高互操作性。

F-35相关投资是邻国挪威通过2021年与美国签署的补充国防合作协议（DCA）获得的优势之一，该协议已于去年生效。今年3月，挪威国防部透露，华盛顿将投资1.88亿美元用于建设吕格机场（挪威部分F-35战机的驻地），包括建造四个战斗机机库及相关设施、仓库，扩大弹药储存能力，并在机场部分区域修建围栏和巡逻道路。

根据协议文本，吕格是美军可“不受阻碍”进入的四个挪威指定区域之一。这些区域还包括埃韦内斯空军基地、索拉空军基地以及拉姆斯德海军基地。该协议的初始期限为十年，并非永久部署。

美芬谈判将如何发挥作用，或如何帮助北欧国家实现其近期提出的目标，即在俄罗斯威胁日益加剧的情况下联合运作空军并整合资源，还有待观察。

莫斯科肯定会密切关注日益密切的防务关系。然而，佩苏表示，除了通过外交辞令或侵犯领空等军事信号表达对俄共中央的不满之外，他预计克里姆林宫不会做出任何进一步的回应。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。