The Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) announced on Monday it is seeking suitable suppliers of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), also referred to as drones, to be used for intelligence gathering purposes.
The FDF said plans to acquire 1,000 to 2,000 UAS, in a two-year acquisition at a cost of around 14 million euros.
“We are looking for a system that operates in all weather conditions in different seasons in varying environments. Also, the system needs to be easy to train for all our persons liable for military service,”
Lieutenant Colonel Riku Rantakari from the Army Command said in a statement.
The devices will be used on “intelligence, surveillance and target acquisition missions of different services’ units and service branches from the southern coast up to northernmost Lapland,” the FDF statement read.
Last week, the government announced plans to substantially increase the country’s defence budget.
The FDF said it had already issued an announcement about the procurement effort in order to identify potential suppliers, and that it is accepting such applications until 9 May.
The system and its supplier will be selected by the summer of 2023, while system training is expected to have started during the second half of that year, the FDF said.