Military drones procured jointly: Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark form drone alliance

Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark intend to procure military drones jointly in future. The four countries’ Nordic national armaments directors signed a technical arrangement to this effect in Helsinki a few days ago; it aims at the joint purchase of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

Growing joint procurement volumes are to let industry produce more, while lowering national UAV procurement costs for each of the four states. Beyond procurement, cooperation in research, development, training and information exchange is also to be expanded.

In addition, the four countries are planning a Nordic procurement of micro drones through the partnership with the NATO Support and Procurement Agency. Mini drones are also to be procured on a Nordic basis, via a framework agreement of the Danish Ministry of Defence.

Finland’s Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen said: “We will facilitate multinational operations in the Nordic region by strengthening cooperation in the field of unmanned aerial systems. We will also intensify Nordic cooperation to support Ukraine”.

Micro and mini drones: two classes of military drones

NATO classifies as micro drones those UAVs whose kinetic energy is at most 66 joules and which cannot cause significant damage. These smallest systems are usually operated at platoon or section level; their range is up to 5 kilometres and their flight altitude up to 80 metres.

Under the NATO classification, mini drones are unmanned aerial systems with a maximum weight of 15 kilograms. They are mostly used by companies or even smaller units; their range is up to 25 kilometres and their flight altitude up to 1,000 metres.