The Arctic Debrief: Finland withdraws from 'Ottawa Treaty' due to rising tensions
The Arctic Debrief is a weekly newsletter covering the most important developments in the Arctic region of the past week.
In this edition:
- Finland withdraws from 'Ottawa Treaty' due to rising tensions
- Norway orders K-9 self-propelled artillery for Arctic outpost
- New radar system and Chinese anti-drone weapon at Russian Arctic base
Latest Developments
Finland withdraws from 'Ottawa Treaty' prohibiting use of anti-personnel mines due to rising tensions
The Finnish government announced that it would officially withdraw from the international Ottawa Treaty, which it joined in 2012, after a review of the country's defence and security situation. Finland will be fully released from the treaty's obligations six months after the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, officially receives the notice.
Finland's military leaders determined that anti-personnel mines would significantly delay a potential Russian invasion and significantly reduce the casualties of Finnish troops. Another consideration was the mines' ease of use and something that can be quickly thought to Finland's conscripts.
The Finnish government noted that it is not planning on deploying any mines at the moment. It also noted that it has notified allies of this decision prior to making the announcement and that it intends to continue global efforts to reduce the impact that anti-personnel mines have on former conflict zones.
Norway orders K-9 self-propelled artillery for Arctic outpost
Norway is looking to purchase 24 K9 Thunder self-propelled artillery vehicles to supplement a new Arctic brigade that is currently underdevelopment. The new units will be stationed in the Finnmark region bordering Russia.
The current Norwegian government has requested parliament to approve an additional €1.43 billion to purchase the new equipment. The money will also go towards acquiring maritime mine counter measures for the Norwegian Navy, the development of unmanned surface vehicles, remotely operated vehicles, and autonomous underwater vehicles. These funds would be in addition to the €140 billion the government committed to spend on defence by 2036.
The Finnmark brigade will also include anti-aircraft weapons, a light infantry battalion, an engineer company, and an intelligence company.
The Norwegian government has previously acquired 29 K9 howitzers, as well as 14 K10 ammunition resupply vehicles from South Korea.
New radar system and Chinese anti-drone weapons at Russian Arctic base
The Russian Armed Forces published a video of Northern Fleet Head Commander Konstantin Kabantsev visiting Nagurskoye, which is the country's northernmost air base. The island, called Franz Josef Land, is over 1,000 km north of Murmansk and is about 400km east of Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.
The video provided some insight into what tech is being used at Russia's northernmost military base. It is shown that the base is operating a modern Monolit-B coastal radar system, which is designed for active and passive detection and tracking of surface and air targets. The system can reportedly track objects at a range up to 450 km.
Another new tech showcased in the video is a Chinese-made 6 bands portable drone gun, allegedly capable of disabling drones at 800 to 1,500 meters. The weapon is produced by the Chinese company Shenzhen Rongxin Communication Co. and it has also been spotted in-use by Russian forces during the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has invested significant resources to expanding and maintaining its Arctic air bases year-round. The airfield at Nagurskoye has been operational all year since 2020 and its runways can accommodate all aircraft including strategic bombers and massive cargo plane.
