The contracts concerning the Defence Forces’ strategic project, the procurement and construction of the Pohjanmaa Class combat vessels were signed in Turku on Thursday 26 September 2019. The Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command, Rauma Marine Construction Oy, Saab Ab and the Finnish Navy participated in the signing of the contracts.
In addition to the actual contracts, a joint statement of cooperation between the parties was signed during the day. This statement was signed by the contracting parties and the Commander of the Navy, Commodore Jori Harju.
- The signing of a symbolic joint statement of cooperation describes the mutual dedication of the partners engaged in the project. The project will provide the Navy with the most capable combat vessels of all time, the Commander of the Navy, Jori Harju stated.
The contracts related to the procurement and construction of the corvettes form a very large entity, and consequently, Finland is going to receive an efficient class of ships, that will provide us with the capability to secure and defend our national sovereignty until the end of the 2050s.
- The Navy will allocate additional resources of its own to monitoring the construction and to the commissioning already from the beginning of the 2020s and the greatest efforts will take place in the middle of the 2020s. The Navy will do its utmost that the vessels achieve operational capability during 2028, Harju writes in a blog on the website of the Finnish Defence Forces.
The building of the first vessel will start in the shipyard in Rauma in 2022.
