American Reacts Finland's 🇫🇮 impact on NATO
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Brit here. I am SO glad the superb Finland armed forces have joined Nato. And I am SO proud that we are allies, and friends. Finland is a country that, in every respect, sets the example and punches so much above its weight. Suuri kunnioitus Suomea kohtaa!
Spelling error! Should be "Suomea kohtaan".
Good job they still do national service.. our stupid government have made so many cuts to our armed forces that we wouldn't last a week in conflict..
@@kennethainetdin3401no, it’s perfectly fine, especially because it shouted (!) you could say and spell it in the spoken more common way by dropping the n.
Making a defense pact with UK was one of the things that helped me sleep better at night, it was done very fast and showed how the North does have the ability to unite under pressure, regardless of Brexit's and other shit.
@@yeetusfetus4503 It is colloquial Finnish to leave the 'n' out, that is what it sounds when shouted. But, when written it should have the 'n'. Pedantic, i know but it is better to be accurate than try to spare feelings.
As a Swede...N.A.T.O did get 50% stronger . Finnish people don't surrender, they accept, adapt ...and strike back .. RESPECT.
Welcome to NATO Sweden, greetings from Finland. :)
Kanske inte 50% starkare,, men lite alla fall. Numera är ju Sverige också medlem, så alla vi Nordbor är brothers in arms. Måste bara säga att Sveriges militärindustri är imponerande och vi finnar, liksom säkert övriga Nordbor är stolta över er state of art M.industri.
One thing to mention that Finland still has one of best snipers in world. Finland snipers won sniper Nato contest 2023.
Really!? Didn´t know that. Thanks!
Yes they did... And Simo Häyhä would be happy. @@samspencer582
Y'know we gotta make Simo proud ;P
Yeah, our guerilla units sniper won my age class shooting competition with Dragunov - other snipers had Sako as their service weapon.
❤😊
I love my Finnish 🇫🇮 brothers and sisters! Love from Sweden 🇸🇪 Don't mess with us in Scandinavia. 🇳🇴🇫🇮🇩🇰🇸🇪 and Iceland. 🙂
And I love all Nordic countries + Baltic countries as well! Greetings from Finland
Yes Swedish citizens have a reputation as very tough. Especially known through out the immigrant community in Sweden.
@@80talet1 and half of them are In jail now and half of them want to join the Swedish Army for the all have Said Sweden Is there Country for our country want to kill us or dont care about us but Sweden care,🇸🇪
🤘
@@80talet1 yes they practice bombing every week.
1:06 The White Death - Simo Häyhä -
Yes that’s him 🙏
Bejala smert was not Häyhä but it was frozen finnish forrest. Some cases that forrest was much bigger treath to ones life than finnnish machine gunners. And finns used it as advance. Finnish Air Force flew every night trying to find soviet camp fires to put those down and forced troops to flee to their death in dark frozen woods.
This guy used to be just one random notable soldier among many until internet made him god.
Was the 100 day war
@@jukkakopol7355Belaya Smert was Simo Häyhä. Kyllä sun Suomalaisena perkele pitäis tietää.
Infantry general Adolf Ehrnrooth was visiting England in the 1970s. The English general asked how many Soviet troops are stationed in Finland. - A few hundred thousand, Ehrnrooth answered. - Where are they placed? continued the British general. - To a depth of two meters along the border, Ehrnrooth stated.
"Six feet deep along the border" is a better translation. Not as accurate but rolls of the tongue better. "Six feet deep" is so well known phrase that it puts the right emphasis on it, no one has to figure out what that means...
@@squidcaps4308 it's common saying but Erhnroot was precise. These days random berry pickers find all kind of grim surprices scattered around forests near the border, pushed up by the deepfrost.
And this is not just a story. So he answered and russians duly lost hundreds of thousands of their troops + the wounded.
@@squidcaps4308we use metricsystem in Scandinavia
@@donaldliden4545 We use metric system also in Finland, which is not part of Scandinavia.. US phrases and idioms are more widespread, and "six feet under" is quite famously know idiom. It just doesn't sound the same as "2 meters underground". It would sound right in Finnish.
Everybody is gangster until the snow starts talking.
I give you extra points because you mentioned forest as a defensive aspect. Finland is 78% forest, 20% swamp and 11% lakes, over 180k lakes. At the moment everything is under deep snow. Two week ago temperatures topped at -37C° ot -34F. This weather will kill anyone with sweaty socks. In forest are no easy supplyroutes. Finland has built it's own infrastructure war in mind. In forest technology make's old time trenchwar obsolete. In forest invaders are allowed to have their way in to be separated into smaller groups. In forest defensive side always has the first shot. In forest invaders will feel like someone is always watching.
Finland is something 70-80% forest, one of the highest in the world still, I dont know where u get 97% from?
@@spoonzor1 me neither :D Quick google and it's 78%. Seem's more realistic. Maybe 97 was counting area of total nature? I'm not sure. I'll edit my comment.
78 + 20 + 11. Quite high amount of area.
@@timomikkola4045 78% forest 20% swamp from all area and 28% swamp from land-only area. 10% of all non-ocean area is lakes and 1% smaller bodies of water. So 11% fresh water areas. Most of the swamp is included in the forests.
@@spoonzor1he wrote 78% forrest so who your talking about saying 97%
Fins are as tough as hell!...glad to have these guys on board!..🇬🇧👍
I didint go to army that i would fight in Nato forces
@@FINMrCurly Defeatist!
@@FINMrCurly Well, we defend also ****** like you
Simo Häyhä is the name of the Finnish sniper, known by the Soviets as Belaya smert', the White Death killed over 500 enemy soldiers, using an ordinary Fimmish hunting rifle.
Yeah, Simo refused the military rifle because he simply didn’t like it. He also refused an optical scope because reflections. So just his own hunting rifle and iron sights. Bad ass.
Famous nazi in Finland?
Yep... Mosin nagant with iron sight. Then he had a machine gun... and he was Affective with that one too 🙌🏻
And yet he stayed humble. ”I was told what to do and I just did my best”.
Simo häyhä or THE White Death
Thank you ! I am an old reservist in Finnish artillery . I did the long way being today a senior lieutenant . With my 75 years , I still want to serve my country . We are now together near 1 million reservists in Finland . Tough guys all.
Finnish defence forces's soldiers are proud warriors in reserve . All together over 900.000 reservists. War time man power 280.000. Finland was one the few countries that never was occupied during the WWII . Not like Norway , Denmark , Holland etc . Today we are happy together with NATO .
Norway were occupied by Germany but Norway never surrendered.
Yeah they kept fighting trough the war if i remember right. Norway just did not have that strong army back then and hitler really wanted those recourses
And Finland was on The same side as germany so we didn't have to worry about them (mostly)
I'm not sure but the 280k is the number which can be called up, armed and equipped on relatively short notice. 900k is the number of people who have undergone military training, but measures would have to be taken to get them armed and equipped. Most could also probably do with some refresher training. So we have a pretty sizeable reserve force plus twice more for rotation. In the last two years the stockpiles of ammunition and equipment have been filled up as well. _Si vis pacem, para bellum!_
@@BooM-su5yb Because England rejected Finland as an allied. Finland's only option were Hitler. Finland could not stand up against The USSR alone like Ukraine today. While Germany attacked all over the place, Finland attacked nowhere. Why Finland would attack Norway, I don't know
The four Nordic air forces are already extremely well integrated. And although of course important, this goes beyond number of planes, firepower etc. Think situational awareness, intelligence sharing, the list goes on.
...and on. This Brit LOVES our Nordic friends, and SO respects their armed forces. These guys punch far above their weight, and are precisely the guys you would want alongside you in the trenches, or in the skies, or in the Baltic. Just a bit! And are precisely the guys the Russians should - and I suspect DO - fear.
Yeah, Norwegian F35s could be guarding Finnish borders within an hour or two... Shared airspace means that they wouldn't need permission to hurl through Swedish airspace... the most polite would of course be to announce it to ATC. But the agreement is there already... no need to ask beforehand.
@@adriangoodrich4306NATO members allowed, but since Sweden isn't officially a member yet... they'll need to ask... not that I think SE would say no...
@@BenjaminVestergaard NORDEFCO? Plus the various recent bilateral agreements like the Sweden-UK Defence pact and the Sweden-US Defense Cooperation Agreement? For all practical purposes, I have no doubt that Sweden would play a full role in any defence of Scandinavia. And once that pro-Putin nut- job in Budapest is brought into line, hopefully very soon now, Sweden's NATO membership will anyway be finalised.
@@BenjaminVestergaardmiljöpartiet kommer att gråta över avgaserna det blir väl det värsta antar jag😂
Maybe one common cliche is that Finland is just a very cold place all the time. Winters can be cold yes but our summers can also be very hot. Temperatures can vary roughly between -40C to +35C (-40F to 95F) all through the country. Finland is a long country so our weather varies a lot.
That is True
If this summer is anywhere close to +30C, I'm going to die D:
Finnish Air Force participated in the Red Flag Alaska 2019 exercise. Their F-18 Hornets got the highest K/D ratio compared to other countries.
What is K/D?
@@bjorncedervall5291kill/death ratio
@@lungimies2914 What is the definition difference between "kill" and "death"? (I thought "kill" and "death" referred to the same thing - obviously concepts that must be clarified)
@@bjorncedervall5291 it's video game term. kill is when you kill enemy. death is when they nailed you.
@@Benderkekekekekeke OK - thank you for the clarification.
Are you sure your an American? Your geography skills seems to be way to good to be an American :D Greetings from Finland!
I thought I heard a slighty Finnish accent
Great reaction! Our very well trained 900,000 reserves are too often forgotten about. Our rapid response force of 280,000 is always mentioned. Our National Defense Will and SISU are, in my opinion, the core of Finland.
870 000 reserves with a wartime rotational strength of 280 000 comprising of all the military branches. Not a rapid response....
@@lumihanki5631 You seem to be at the bottom of Trolls' salaries.
@@lumihanki5631 2023: 900000. Every year, 22,000 soldiers are trained. - Anti-Tank Jaeger Rossi.
@@mikorossi1959 Piäppä kloppi suus siistimpänä ku puhuttelet parempias ja korkeampaa rotua.... ..Ylirajajääkäri, sissi lääk. Kainuun rajavartioston rajajääkärikomppania 1/05 kert. -11 sekä -16 ...yksi rajakoira vastaa jo puolustusvoimien Majuria.... I was merely correcting a false statement which you presented
@@mikorossi1959 21 000 conscripts in -23 and the reserves are at -870 000 and on a constant decline as the older larger generations are depleting at and soon the numbers for the annual amount of new conscripts drops below 20 000 as our demographics won't suffice for more. This is also the main driving reason why the politicians are hyping for a compulsory conscription for women as well. A grave mistake in my humble opinion as the real corrective movement would be to have our demographics rise in an "au naturel" way by seriously dumping money and benefits for family units of +4 children...
Hi! Writing from Finland. If you enjoy ww2 stories, be sure to watch "The unknown soldier", pretty much the cornerstone of national spirit. It is based on the continuation war against soviets, and it has been filmed three times in different times. Most recent I believe is from 2020 and it has well made subtitles. And it is probably the best of those. (Unless you crave nostalgy, since the original was shown on our tv every independence day..) Well anyway, if you have not seen the film, you should. That's all. :)
three times decorated Simo Häyh was mortally wounded, half of his face blown off. but he miraculOusly survived. he died in 2002, aged 96.
Funny fact: He lived longer than Soviet Union 😁
You aren't wrong on that Finland is an extremely inhospitable place for an offensive force. I can't remember if it was a British or American high ranking military person, but after their visit to Finnish armed forces they stated "Finland is a trap, waiting to be sprung." This statement is based on couple of facts including, the high national pride and willingness to defend it. A harsh climate, to which FDF is very prepared for. And the fact that from any feasible direction of attack, meaning "not west", there are very few roads, finland has over 1500 artillery pieces and you betcha these roads are zeroed already and have been for decades. Finnish artillery is kinda legendary tbh, considering it's size, history and even innovations. They will rain hell and fire on anything on their range and they will hit their targets.
A Russian tank invasion like in Ukraine, where there's open plains and roads, would be suicide mission in Finland. There's just bogs, waterways and deep forests. Finns are masters of using the terrain to their advantage. Russians would be caught in guerilla fighting in the woods and would need significantly more than the usual 3:1 ratio to make any gains. They REALLY don't wanna try.
@@mv_5878 yup. I was designated In "querrila" or sissi In finnish when I was drafted and it was still a thing. I can vouch. Havuja perkele.
Lauri Törni is also a pretty famous Finnish soldier with an interesting story. He died in the vietnam war
Well, we actually never fully got off from the cold war mode, unlike many other more fortunately located European countries. The 50 thousand bomb shelters for basically all the population, the still pretty universal conscription (like 70-75% of the males serving in every age class), people quite united about the Russian threat etc. This new European crisis has caught us pretty prepared actually...
And we are currently rearming like hell, the politicians are okaying all sorts of acquisitions that were financially impossible earlier.
Wish i could say the same 😐🇸🇪
You are just an anglo-saxon's puppets who will be sent to fight their wars. More military expenditures will only undermine your economy since you are not even investing into your own military industrial complex unlike Russsia for example. _And we are currently rearming like hell, the politicians are okaying all sorts of acquisitions that were financially impossible earlier._ If you think Russia wants to put you on her payroll you are crazy. Your politicians are supremacists. Your country supported Nazi Germany and now they are supporting neo Nazis from Ukraine, people of the same supremacist ideiology. If you play stupid and place US nukes or other offensive missiles that will have few mitutes flight to reach Russia's major cities then those sites simply gonna be destroyed with cruise missiles and Finland or anyone else won't be able to do anything about it, no matter how many soldiers you gather.
@@qwineth hys hys
These guys you see in this film as "Border Guards" are bad ass. They seem like farm boys but they are special forces.
Yep
By the way, the world's best sniper who was a Finn was called: Simo Häyhä
You are in trouble when the forest starts to talk Finnish.
We have a family friend who is a dual Finnish/British citizen(we call her Fintish) Her family in Finland live right on the border with Russia. Each time she visits she says people have become more and more worried about Russia but are happy to now be part of Nato.
She talks a lot of shit then.
Reserve here in Finland is 870,000 by the way. On top of that 280,000. If there is a war that turns into an extended conflict, you can also count on several "not fit for active service" people, including women like me to pick up arms and do their part, IF at that point it's better than working in other duties off the front. My wife has the same mentality as well. We both already know how to shoot well (a large caliber Sako rifle and a pistol are the most familiar to us), and life outdoors in all weathers is no stranger to us. I followed closely how my two big brothers went through service, admired their military gear and all. Either way, a training course on functioning as part of a group and on handling gear we aren't familiar with is all we'd need to useful at the front, if really needed. (My illness is the kind that may act up and kill me, risk heightened by physical exertion, but hey, so can a bullet, or a missile strike into our home building, as seen in Ukraine.)
I have read Finish pilot book and he said that Finland is very respected in global flight trainings because they make there good stuff by defending attacks units.
During WW2, and since then, Finnish air force slapped like no other. 1-119 kill count, with 100s of planes downed.
They trained German troops in winter warfare. They are uncompromising warriors and take no shit whatsoever. The Finns and the Lapps scared the shite out of both the Russian and the German. Seriously. Don't fuck with.
Also the Vikings. There is a story in King Olaf's saga about one of their raids. They were re-soundly beaten back with tail behind their legs. It is a story that repeats a few times, invader arrives and finds only empty huts, no humans around. While returning to their boats the Vikings were ambushed and forced to retreat. And then the forest around the river told that Finns just kept following them at the same pace until they headed out to the sea. And then of course witchcraft on top, Vikings took Finnish magic very seriously. The main lesson here is that Finns decide when and where to fight. This is still the main tactic. In my town our proudest moment was when we beat the Royal Navy in the Skirmish of Halkokari. The story is long, i'll try to be short. During Crimean War in the 1800s British Royal Navy decided to burn Finnish harbors on the Bay of Bothnia, between Sweden and Finland. This was during Russian rule. They started from the North, sacking Oulu and Raahe. Word got to Kokkola (called Gamla Karleby at the time) and plans were made. They constructed a wooden fence between the buildings lining the harbor. Once Royal Navy reached the town, they could not sail to the port with their warships due to the bay being to shallow. They sent an envoy to negotiate the surrender of the town, promising to only burn Russian stockpiles, and all the ships that the shipyards made. Sidenote, a LOT of those ships were actually commissioned by British merchants.. Once the envoy reached the town, they noticed that there were only some dignitaries, women, children and elderly. Looked like the easiest target in the world for the powerful and undefeated Royal Navy. To their surprise, the town refused to surrender. So, it was going to be a battle. Brits send big boats full of men, some 200 with 20 officers. The boats had small cannons but while the main fleet was forced to stay away, not being able to use their big guns this was still a fight between professional modern army and just some peasants... easy. Once the boats had advanced close to the shore, suddenly the wooden fences between warehouses fell down, revealing 100 Russian cavalry and 200 Finnish men, with 10 cannons. It was, to quote the great Admiral Akbar: a trap. Brits were totally outgunned, they could not shoot accurately while Finns peasants, trained in game hunting made a mince meat of the Brits. The battle was over once Mats Kankkonen, the leader of peasant army sniped one of the officers to the head and the ranks broke. The end result was 18 brits dead, 52 captured. Finnish casualties was one horse, and yes, i find this part particularly funny. The town was saved. But there is a epilogue: the captured Brits were invited to a banquet, and it was a night of dancing and music. Then they were sent to St Petersburg and then home after the war. Brits tried again year later but this time the town was well armed and after a 3 hour cannon fire exchange, they had to retreat. Royal navy sent a congratulation letter, praising the tactics and saying that they learn to not underestimate people who are willing to defend their homes again (lol...). And wished that trade was re-established. And that is the story of bunch of peasants defeating the Royal Navy at its height. We still have one of their boats, and the want it back. Royal Navy still pays for the upkeep of grave of their fallen soldiers.
As a Finn i have to say that your commentary is well measured and you don't overly speculate but say straight forward if you don't know. Very Finnish approach i have to point out, you sure you don't have drop of Finnish blood in you? 😀
What people might not understand is that we in Finland don't have fear based relationship when it comes to Russia. We have "I fucking dare you" relationship. There is only one direction we have trained to defend for several generations. History shows that you can come over, you might even conquer, but you will never subjugate. Now with NATO backing we don't need to worry we'll run out of ammo.
9:00 The landscape is full of small lakes which helps out in defending it.
When Finnish person goes to sleep he still keeps one eye open looking at east. Every generation knows that. Also its anticipation rather than fear. Cheers!
As a Finn, it was super nice to watch this and hear your thoughts 🙌🏻
Finnish pilots are one of the best in the world, also during ww2 they.. we had one of the best fighter aces which is something people dont really know about. I suggest people who sees this comment googe or look it up.
Indeed ( look on Ilmari Juutilainen - top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time ), or Jorma Sarvanto - managed to shoot down six of the enemy aircraft in quick sequence. This incident drew a lot of attention worldwide, and the press considered it a world record. ). These days.. yea. Training has picked up I'd say.
It's hard to tell how well the airforce would work in an actual conflict, planes are expensive and it's a small country. But looking at aviation geeks' comments on Henri Toppari flying his F/A-18 in RIAT, I think there's some serious skill in the flying force.
And if actual conflict happened you can bet that swedish planes are up at least as fast and helping, and norways planes would be flying over sweden to provide back up.
Finland have an outstanding, modern military and I am proud we're all part of NATO
1:18 the sniper is simo häyhä/ the white death btw :)
Yes 🙌 ty
Proper American pronounciation is Saimou Hay Hah.
@@UltraCasualPenguin "Proper American pronunciation" of a Finnish name. That's funny. If that's the case, the "proper Finnish pronunciation" of _James Earl Jones_ goes like 'YA-mes E-arl YAW-nes".
@@TheRawrnstuff Wrong. In Finnish "J" is pronounced as "J", "O" is pronounced as "O", "Y" is pronounced as "Y" and so on. Very different from English and very similar to languages like Japanese.
@@UltraCasualPenguin No, you. You missed my entire point. By the rules you set up, I'd have had to say "James Earl Jones is pronounced James Earl Jones", which would not at all have sent the message I was trying to communicate. "Saimou Hay Hah" is equally wrong to "YA-mes E-arl YAW-nes".
Thank you of this video❤ And this is just of military, I can tell that we have civilians also (including me) that are ready to fight our lifes against enemy🎉
What a lot of people miss about Finnish war preparedness is the home front stuff. Schools still teach basic technical skills as well as textile crafts. Cooking from basic ingredients that can be locally grown. The basic infrastructure is maintained with special emphasis on resilience. People are taught to always have few days worth of preferably shelf stable food at home that they use and rotate. People are always guided to be in a state where they are able to handle taking care of themselves and others around them for a little while. It makes much easier to lead people in any type of crisis.
Finnish military is one of the most cost efficient in the world. On par with Israel. Finnish Air Force is not very strong but that is not a problem anymore. There is joint Nordic Airforce initiative that combines Sweden, Norway and Denmark airforces, and that is a significant deterrent for Russia. They really have no match for it, they have the numbers but not the equipment. And Finnish air defense is quite good. BTW, Finland too the gold in NATO sniper competition this year. The decider event was shooting from a dingy at sea, until that event Greece was in the lead. The feedback was praising the calmness under pressure, improvisation and ability to focus on the job.
Suomalainen sotilas on kova jätkä!
🇪🇦Welcome to the party, amigo 🇫🇮💪🏻
im suprised they didnt mentino the finish bunker system, like all of finland is one massive big bunker, and these are not tiny once, they have schools, factories, and everything in bunkers.
those are for civilian use, military may have their own bunkers but no one really knows
@@freezedeve3119 ya that to, wich means bombing and such and finland just move down in the bunkers.
It’s good to be on your side Mr. Jibbin
Simo Häyhä the sniper! Thanks and hello from Finland!
Thanks for nice reaction video, Connor. About that air capability, we have Nordic Airforce (read: Kalmar Union is back).. [ On 16th March 2023, the four Nordic countries, namely Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden signed the first Nordic Air Commander's Intent (NACI)[i] which aimed at merging the air defenses of all four nations, eventually establishing a 'Unified Nordic Airforce' ] Take care. .... and Slava Ukraini!
The Finnish sniper's name was Simo Häyhä, he fought in winter war in 1939-1940
Great headset choice :)
greetings from Finland 🇫🇮
I served as a conscript in the Finnish Military in 1993-1994 for 11 months, and reached the rank of Sergeant as a Green Beret, Marine Commando.Finnish conscripts get way better training than the Russian counterparts. Finns have a very high morale when it comes to defending their country. If you count all conscripts, like up to 60+ years of age, our military is almost 1 million strong. So I mean this is not the easiest place to start from if Russia wants to go to war, even though they have a much bigger army. Of course as a NATO country we now have a much bigger responsability of defending the Baltic countries if they get attacked. But so what, I'm ready to defend our southern democratic brothers if it so may. Finland also bought F-35's as a replacement for the F-18's, but we're still waiting for them to be delivered in a year or two.
I was there (1. jk) in 1991-1992.
@@perkele2802 I was in 2.jk. Kerran rannikkojääkäri, aina rannikkojääkäri!
🇫🇮🇫🇮🇫🇮
The Finnish sniper that you were wondering about was active during the Finnish winter war and he was called "The white death". His name was Simo "Simuna" Häyhä.
You mentioned that it is very cold in Finland BUT you forgot that Norway is part of NATO and it is cold there too, the US Navy Seals actually have exercises there in northern Norway and so does the British Royal Marine. Within a few weeks, Sweden will also join NATO and even here in the north of Sweden the winters are cold. American will be in Sweden and then, among other things, in my city Kiruna, which is Sweden's northernmost city. For a few years now, the US Marine Corps actually receives winter training up here, they get to learn to ski, be up in a mountain environment and learn to deal with the cold as well as build snow bivouacs. Sweden and Finland have a strong cooperation several years before NATO membership. Sweden supplies NATO with the most modern and best JAS 39 Gripen combat aircraft and currently there are 94 of them, then the best Submarines available. So it will come then what Sweden contributes to NATO. Sweden and the USA have had close cooperation militarily since 2008 and then it increased in 2016 and then they also started cooperating with other NATO countries. The USA has been in Sweden many times over several years and had joint exercises with the USA. Since then, since 2016, NATO countries began to come and practice in Sweden. Sweden is also in the process of opening up more regiments around Sweden, more will do military service Since Russia has invaded Ukraine, the number of volunteers has increased greatly and that unit is called the Home Guard and are the first to face the enemy until the military arrives. Sweden has something called Civil Obligation and it applies to everyone between the ages of 18 and 70.
JAS gripen is 4th gen fighter, and while it is fast and agile.. F35s are the backbone of the Joint Nordic Airforce. Gripens are VERY handy along with F35s, they complement each other very well. So, saying that JAS Gripen is one of the best 4th gen fighters is true, it still lacks stealth. Its radar cross section is comparable to Russian fighters. But, it is designed for the Nordic, requires very small maintenance and resupply crew and can take off from roads, doesn't need an airstrip. So, together they are very efficient, providing de-centralized airforce. It can be flown close to front lines, resupplied in a middle of nowhere, do the mission and head home. F35s are better up high, Gripen is good down low. One takes care of high value targets and air defenses of the enemy, the other supports troops on the ground.
Norway is way warmer than Finland just because the Gulf Stream that comes from the Gulf of Mexico. It brings warmth from the tropic to Norway. Finland gets the cold 🥶 air from Siberia.
Finland and Sweden signed an agreement last year where Finland starts to train Swedish army so that the conscription is back and that Swedish army meets the standards.
Finland needs to buy couple of those excellent Swedish subs asap 🎉
@@verttikoo2052 Finland is not good at purchasing war materiel. Just look at how they chose the 3 times as expensive F35 if I remember it's name correctly, over the JAS 39 Gripen. Also the cost per flight hour is 3 times as expensive as JAS. Since Stridsplan Finland chose, the number of weapons it can be armed with is limited. While the JAS can be armed with all the different weapons available within NATO. Then Finland ordered the Finnish handgun from Finnish SAKO, the only problem is that this weapon is only in drawings, so you don't know how the weapon works. Sweden had apparently also ordered this weapon, but now they have backed out of the deal, as the procurement has gone wrong and they are no longer supposed to have commercial weapons with caliber 7.62 but 5.56. So that Finland would buy from Sweden is not likely.
NATO is also an ideological and political alliense. Finland offers other NATO countries training areas and storage relating that training. Especially regarding the Arctic dimension. Also expertise regarding those Arctic capabilities. The geopolitical race is already on to that direction. E.g. Rovajärvi in the northern FInland is the largest practice range in the western Europe, and NATO just ordered-as fundamental things as-skis from a Finnish ski producer: "Talvikoulutusta Jääkäriprikaatissa - Winter warfare training in Jaeger Brigade". Finnish soldiers (Marttinen's Men) took part in developing the US winter warfare capabilities already after the WW2. The video doesn't have English subtitles, but there's English commentary also: "Marttisen miehet: asekätkijäveljet". Then there's Finnish weapon industry. Canada E.g. selected SAKO's rifle as the new sniper weapon for its armed forces in 2022: "How Rifles Are Made | How It's Made (Sako & Tikka GUN PRODUCTION)". Relating the Arctic dimension and maritime, there's ice breaker, ship building and possible submarine know-how: ""Historia | Rauma-Repolan sukelluspallot", "Icebreakers: life on board" and "Icon of the Seas - Vesillelasku". Also sea mine warfare expertise: "The Forgotten Story of the Red Army's Insane 'Soviet DUNKIRK' in WW2" and "German U-745 submarine found gulf of Finland". Then there's cyber technology and intelligence: "Sweden in World War 2 - Operation Stella Polaris", "Nokia | The Rise And Fall [Part 1]" and "The Secret OS That Really Runs The World". On Finnish air force: "RED FLAG - ALASKA", "Ilmavoimien F/A-18 Hornet -soolo RIAT-lentonäytöksessä 2019", "Etsi ja lamauta! | Find and neutralize!" and "Venäjän ilmavoimien radiokeskustelu Suomen F-18 Hornetin tunnistuslennolla". Peacekeeping and diplomatic skills and reputation: "YKSK - Yhdistyneiden Kansakuntien Suomen Komppania 1956-1957 | Finnish UN Company 1956-1957" and "Kekkonens Nightmare". Civil defense know-how: "Why Finland Has 54,000 Nuclear Bunkers". Conscription gives military skill, but then there are civil occupation and interest skills: "Kangasala-Jukola 2019 - Official Aftermovie", "Lapua Team member Raine Peltokoski", "NH: Hirvijahti | Moose hunting | 2019", "Diving into the Unknown extras - Sami Paakkarinen gives his insights into diving" and "Mies joka räjäytti TESLANSA!! Tesla Model S & 30kg dynamiittia",
Finland is very experienced country, smaller country sitting right next to Russia, they have a lot of experiences and very good military, it's good to have them in NATO. It's still kind of weird for me to hear that some countries still have conscription in 2024, but they probably have no other option when you consider their population, professional army would be too small to protect them from such giant like Russia and they have to take it seriously when they have border with them and Russia already attacked them several times. I am really thankfull that these countries have conscription, so we don't have to, as a Czech born in 1991, I can't really imagine that, it was 2 years before they removed conscription here.
Conscription is ON, cause ruSSian neighbor is full small-minded evil dictatorship.
@@tehokotkat We actually had conscription until 2004, I thought they removed it directly after revolution, but it was here for much longer time than I thought.
In free democracy you have freedoms but you also have responsibilities. And if you are not ready to fight a war for your freedom you can and eventually will lose your freedom. Unprovoked attacks are old russian imperialistic habbit. You should know this as well as we know here in Finland.
@@perkele2802 I am pretty sure that in case of war, half of people will immediately emmigrate to avoid military service. 😀 We can see it even with Ukrainians, they are hiding here and we can't deport them because it's illegal by some international law, you can't send them to war.
Finland decided to join the Nato and Finns told the Swedish that btw you are joining too 🥳🤭
Gud vad dryg du är
I posted early in the vid. There is a missile system that covers the sea between the 2 countries. So minimal naval or air traffic could pass that zone without an intervention. And there is an opt out option for teens for military training. But the last count I heard they have 900k potential troops out of a 6m population.
it wasent so cold last night.. only -32 degrees celcius :D (greets from Finland)
Bit nippy in ldn too, got down to 6c and blossom only just starting to come out. Love you mad Nordics. Brilliant countries & locals (new arrivals..not so much) but soooo couldn't hack your winters.
I watched less than 10 of your reactions, and they have been quality reactions mostly I think. I even like that opening: " yea I react to that" 😀(at least I think that is what u r saying there). As an Finnish person and officer in reserve(second lieutenant, liaison officer), after this video I just subscribed. Thank you, and I can assure u that respect is mutual. Ofc it have allways been clear that there are good guys in US also😀 Keep it up! 🇫🇮🇺🇲
Yea you are right. For example compared to Ukraine where there are a lot of empty fields. Finland is mostly covered in forest and lakes. Much harder to launch an attack and easier to defend.
One bad thing - we don't have civil rights in Finland. For example if police ask for citizen to ID, citizen have to ID by law. Otherwise cop takes citizen to jail and if crime is not found in 24h citizen is released, identified or not.
Our eastern border is also mostly water (lakes etc) and non passable swamps so the "attacking routes" are easy to predict for large hostile forces and prepare defense accordingly and the sniper who you was thinking of is Simo Häyhä.
Where did you do your service? Sir
Simo Häyhä, AKA the white death
If you want know about one really tough finnish ww2 soldier, you could check up on "Larry Thorne" aka Lauri Törni ...if the name doesnt ring any bells - well ill just say he became later on usa green beret, apparantly theres still something named after him and Sabaton made the song "soldier of three armies" out of him, so theres quite the life story check out there ;)
@seanprice7645 I believe quite few finnish officers ended in usa after ww2, still wanting to oppose ussr/communism while the finnish political atmosphere became difficult - but ive got no clue how well they are all documented. Publicly not very well known anyhow.
Hey! I must say that you have very good information about the defense of the Baltic Sea countries and their capabilities. There is nothing to note about the details. Sergeant - Coastal Missile Fire Director.
hello from finland 🇫🇮🇫🇮
Greetings from Finland ❤🇫🇮 The sniper you were talking about is called Simo Häyhä ✌🏻
Simo Häyhä was the sniper... But how and why our military forces is what it is. After WW2 Finland was forced by Soviet Union to be non allied. Soviets were always dangerous and we submitted in the way the world knows as "Finlandization". We were humble and co-operative neighbor to Soviet Union but in the same time we had a chance and need to keep our military strong. Soviet Union collapsed in the 90's but as we were still non-allied we continued to keep the military strong. That's how we are here today. The debate of weather to join Nato or not has continued over decade and as our president Niinistö said to Russians: "Look at the mirror, you caused this (by attacking Ukraine)".
Russians are thinking that Finland join NATO because Finland needs protection. Wrong. Finland joined because NATO needs protection! 😅 Simo Häyhä is the sniper’s name that you are talking about.
@mcjibbin thanks Connor. Spent a year in the US as a teenager. Part of my heart is still there. Capt. Finnish Army
Simo Häyhä! 😁 From the small and modest Finnish air force during the Second World War, I can mention the Finnish fighter aces and the best of them, Ilmari Juutilainen. 🫡 Juutilainen achieved a total of 94 aerial victories during the wars, and is the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time. He himself claimed further kills for a total of 126 victories, but these were unconfirmed. His older brother, Aarne Juutilainen, who served as battalion commander in the famous Kollaa battle, among other things, and in his unit fought, among others, Finland's most famous sniper, none other than Simo Häyhä. 😂
One of FInland's best strengths is the systematic organization and planning that goes into everything. Being well prepared for as many scenarios as possible is how you can defend against a numerically superior force.
That sniper name what you thinking is Simo Häyhä, The White Death. He was Sniper in Winter war 1939-1940. source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_H%C3%A4yh%C3%A4 and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War
There is reason why American Special forces come to practice with the STANDARD military conscripts I worked as contract military instructor so i saw quick a lot US special forces there while also teaching conscripts US has years and years wanted that Finland would join to NATO so they could get into Finlands military training programs In around 7-8 min mark in domentary didnt say that Finland has one of best ground forces compared to another country This is the very reason why EVERY big military exercise here in Finland is very sought after for by our allies, Especially US
That sniper name you were looking for was Simo Hyyhä who had 542 comfirmed kils
Im am scout military engineer corporal and I was told that my expected life in battlefield is 3 minutes... hope the was never comes
Nice to have allies when the next conflict appears! Speaking of cold, i've sent 2 kids to school with their skiing equipment and ice skates for their gym classes, it is -14'C today 😬
No voooi... 😢 Kai saivat kriisiapua?
the sniper that had the insane kill count was Simo Häyhä also known as the whit death
I'd like to add to the direct military capabilities few things Finland has kept doing since the WW2... War preparedness in general like; still building legally regulated civil shelters, stockpiling critical national reserves for war and supporting voluntary military training.
Google: "How many Soldiers does Sweden have? Sweden does not have a reserve that can be put into the business base. The entire strength of the defense forces is 29,750 soldiers, of which 6,850 belong to the ground forces." Here is information about how important quality is. "Finnish field artillery earned a strong reputation already in World War II. A special merit is listed for stopping the Soviet Union's major attack on the Karelian Isthmus in the summer of 1944 in the major battles of Tali-Ihantala and Äyräpään-Vuosalmi. In Ihantala, the Finnish artillery was able to concentrate the fire of 21 batteries and one heavy battery on the same target area, which meant a total of 247 guns fire. Although the Soviet Union had significantly more cannons in number, the Finns' fire was accurate and its focus on a new target was quick. It was this fact that brought Finnish artillery to world fame and is still its trump card."
Tali-Ihantala was the most important battle in Finnish history and still the biggest battle ever fought in Nordic countries.
@@mv_5878 Tali-Ihantal was important certainly but not the most defining. Stopping the invasion from Suomussalmi in Kainuu and Pelkosenniemi up in Lapland caused the Russians to forsake trying to cut Finland in half which would have resulted in utter defeat of all defensive actions in the Southern front. Both frontiers pulled their weight in sixfold but it was the Northern fronts victories which prevented losing the entire battlefield and war. We won in that essence but lost in the peace talks. There's actually a grave backstory on why Finland's envoys agreed to all the unfavorable peace terms if you want to look into it.....
@@lumihanki5631 You seem to be at the bottom of Trolls' salaries.
@@lumihanki5631 Good point, that was probably the most fatal moment in the Winter War
0 seconds ago Finnish fighter pilots are very good. They have also been training in US. Red Flag exercises, which the US Air Force bills as its “premier air-to-air combat training exercise” giving “pilots the experience of multiple, intensive air combat sorties in the safety of a training environment”.
Is true that theyr is a saying " the enemy is so vast and my land so small were will I buried them all ?
Here is indeed the joke like that, but I had a little different experience. My sergeant was university student and he was complaining more about the meaningless of the army than the rest of us. He was convinced that civiliced men shouldn't have wars in the modern world. He teached us like we would be in the school and raised his voice only once when did the fitness test exceptionally lazy. We had to wake up an hour earlier after that and make 4km punishment run for 3 weeks before breakfast. Finnish people do what must be done, but we aren't particilarly gung ho.
I am so proud that i was born in Finland right now!🇫🇮🔥
Finnish air force at 2 world war are legendary...they fly Brewster Buffalos and kill rate are huge:)
the sniper u were thinking about was simo häyhä confirmed 550+ kils with only a sniper rifle without using a scope and 200+ unconfirmed kills with an smg
New sub from Manchester UK
Around 7 minutes you make a point that, by looking how much country enlists it's citizens, you can see where in the world is higher chance of conflicts and while I agree about the hostility of the countries involved, it's almost the opposite. Attacking a country with huge reserves is like poking a bees nest. That is the best defence tool of our country and that's why we have enlisted this much since second world war.
youre well educated and aware about geopolitics for an american i must say. I would say all your remarks were correct and on point. And forgetting the name of Simo Häyhä can be forgiven :)
Meanwhile in Denmark a Danish politician proposed a redline to Russia, with an answering mashine saying. "We surrender". AND Denmark saves 4% GDP on millitary expenses.
If you google satellite map of Finland, pay attention to the lakes. They are natural barriers, and practically all roads are on the thin strips of land between the lakes. There are tens of thousands of lakes, big and small. The closer you zoom the satellite view, the more and more lakes you see. Imagine being the attacker trying to figure out where to try to go and how... Pre-calculated artillery target areas all around. A gauntlet running that never ends. Stalin was asked after the WW2 why he did not try to completely invade Finland. The angry answer was ,"I do not want to hold a porcupine in my armpit"... And yes, we are all trained to shoot straight. Even though I was in the AA artillery, missile corps, every guy had to hit a target about a size of a basket ball 300 yards away with our assault rifle Valmet that is an (a lot) improved version of the AK 47, actually first Israeli Galils were also Valmets. The Valmet works in any conditions. I never saw a misfire or other malfunction, we did not even think it it is possible. It just works. The old famous Suomi submachine gun was not so reliable if not taken very well care of. By the way, I sometimes see shooters shoulder the Suomi stock, but that is wrong, it makes it climb full auto. The correct way is the just "cheeck" the stock. I had one too as I was the "armament officer" of our group, and also had the almost similar rifle Simo Häyhä used. That is incredibly accurate, even with those iron sights. Those were just for educational purposes like the dummy mines etc I had. We also had the strange mongrel, the "light machine gun"... It was like a strange AK47 with overly complicated workings, strange to use, but when new, the barrel was as accurate as the Valmet. And it did not care if one cartridge was missing in the belt, it just fed. We found that hard way when we tried to shoot single rounds... Two gaps made it possible to shoot single shots to verify the accuracy and to raport it to the superiors. Torso sized hits from 300 yards with coarse sights (like foldable "night sights" of the Valmet) when new. At times it was fun... About 40 years ago.
It was Simo Häyhä, who passed away the age 98 in 2002
Finland did not join NATO to get soldiers from other nations to fight for it. By joining NATO, Finland expects to receive material support and intelligence information. In the last wars, Finland was largely alone and the only party that gave support was not a good option, mostly a dictatorship similar to the Soviet Union. In the last war Finland fought, the USA supported the Soviet Union, and the weapons supplied by the USA and the UK to the Soviet Union were used against Finland as well. By joining NATO, this will not happen again, but Finland will receive support from these countries as well as from other NATO members.
Early fifty's Winter warfare training in USA was done by Finnish ww2 veterans.
Yes the training grounds were close to town of Leadville here in Colorado the 10th Mountain Division - Camp Hale, there is a bronze plate on still existing concrete structures on the site to remember and appreciate Finnish instructors! Finn from Colorado.
Finland needed Nato for numbers, like reserve men and ammo replenish. Well, intel too, but that Finland kind of had from the earlier cooperation. Nato on the other hand needed Finland for knowhow. Finland has been keeping its defences up while a lot of Nato members have been slacking badly or somehow felt too secure. Now Finland's expertise is valuable, as other Nato members have awaken to the harsh reality that there is a chance of an armed conflict.
Finnish sniper. Simo Häyhä (white death) kill count around 500. Häyhä didn't even have a scope in his rifle
One often unmentioned aspect of NATO membership is access to ammunition. If Finland was to defend it's land alone, sooner or later it would run out of bullets (ammunition of all kinds) and the alliances with NATO, US, and UK guarantee that the ammunition will keep comin.
As a 🇫🇮, I greatly appreciate our ability to respond to external threats by ourselves, because we have conscription and reservists (like myself) who take care of themselves, their shooting skills and, above all, unity in crisis situations. Thanks for good YT 👍🫡
The sniper was Simo Häyhä also known as "White Death". He had appr. 500 kills during Winter War. He was wounded in face and couldn´t join Continious War. Died 2002.
I think you refers to the sniper during the winther war, 1939-40. I remember his name, Simo Häyhä. I knew of many Norwegians who voluntereed to join the "Finns" during that war. Scandinavians do stick together when someone try to pick our noses! we only fight internal during winter sports 😅
Finland is not part of Scandinavia.