The Finnish Army will conduct the Karelian Sword 26 exercise in southeastern Finland from 22 to 29 May 2026 with around 10,000 personnel, including reserve units and allied troops and has designated hashtags to follow the exercise on social media.
![Colonel Daniel Rydberg, who will take command of the NATO’s Forward Land Forces [FLF] in Finland | Photo: Försvarsmakten/David Luttu Carr](https://i0.wp.com/stratpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/260422-C-flf-davcar05-154258f.jpg?fit=150%2C84&ssl=1)
Sweden will take command of NATO’s Forward Land Forces in Finland this summer, marking its first role as a Framework Nation. The multinational force will support deterrence and defence operations in Northern Europe, with a battalion group based in Sweden.
Finland has proposed expanding civilian intelligence powers to address state-sponsored and cyber threats. The draft law includes new network exploitation measures, broader surveillance authorities, and longer document secrecy periods, and is open for consultation until late May.
Finland’s withdrawal from the Ottawa Anti-Personnel Landmines Convention has formally taken effect, six months after notification was submitted to the United Nations. The decision allows Finland to plan for the reintroduction of landmines while maintaining its international legal obligations. Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, which also share borders with Russia, have already completed their withdrawal from the treaty.
ICEYE and the Swedish Space Corporation have signed a Letter of Intent to examine potential cooperation across satellite operations, mission development and launch capabilities, following discussions at the NATO Arctic Space Forum on strengthening allied space-based ISR.
Defence Builder of Ukraine and Finland’s 17Tech have formed a strategic partnership to link Ukraine’s battlefield-driven innovation with Finland’s defence technology expertise. The collaboration will support startups from NATO countries, provide access to operational validation environments, enable field testing in Ukraine and expand investor and defence-sector networks across both nations.
ICEYE has introduced Tactical Access, a satellite tasking service that provides guaranteed SAR imaging capacity and rapid delivery for defense and intelligence customers. The subscription-based model allows users to directly control ICEYE’s imaging fleet, with options for local ground stations or secure cloud-based image access.
18 European Union member states have asked for loans worth €127 billion under the new €150 billion SAFE fund for defence spending with the deadline for formal submission of requests under SAFE to end on 30 November 2025.
Turkey signed separate agreements at the International Defence Industry Fair in Istanbul last week, with plans to purchase 40 Eurofighter aircraft from the United Kingdom and sell 48 of its indigenous Kaan fighter aircraft to Indonesia.
As NATO races to supply Ukraine before Trump takes office, Europe is struggling to touch two percent of its GDP on defence expenditure while Russia plans to spend more than 32 percent of its national budget on its military.
The strategy paper that is said to be an evolving, ‘living document,’ includes ‘detailed plans’ for eventualities that range from defending Germany to deterring Russian manoeuvres on NATO’s eastern flank and anticipates that Germany might have to become a ‘hub for tens or hundreds of thousands of troops’ that have to be transported east, besides logistics for war materiel.
Damage to submarine communication cables between new NATO members Finland and Sweden and their alliance partners Germany and Lithuania was likely sabotage, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Tuesday. “No one believes that these cables were cut by mistake,” Pistorius said in Brussels at an EU defence ministers meeting to discuss the different threats facing the European Union.
Unsurprisingly, India’s two largest defense suppliers are also the biggest exhibitors at the show. Israel has taken up the most space at the show with 1,293 square meters and Russia brings the largest number of companies to the show, with the count at 37.
