Finland and Sweden to acquire maritime drones for Baltic Sea surveillance

The naval commands of Finland and Sweden have announced a joint plan to acquire unmanned surface vessels to enhance maritime surveillance and security in the Baltic Sea. These maritime drones, which resemble sailboats and are equipped with sensors, cameras, and radar, could be operational as early as this year.

Rear Admiral Tuomas Tiilikainen, commander of the Finnish Navy, stated that these unmanned vessels will transmit real-time situational data to operational centers. This capability will allow authorities to identify unknown vessels and determine if a standby warship needs to be deployed to the location.

As part of this increased maritime monitoring, Sweden will deploy a corvette to the Gulf of Finland in the coming weeks. This move aims to support Finland, allowing its resources to focus on the eastern part of the Gulf, where there is heightened activity involving drones related to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The initiative follows recent incidents, including the discovery of a Russian-made Geoscan 701 drone near Porvoo, Finland.