Finnish Minister of Defence Häkkänen signs 12 agreements in Ankara to boost defence industry

Finnish Minister of Defence Häkkänen signs 12 agreements in Ankara to boost defence industry

The NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum, held in Ankara on 7 July 2026, witnessed several announcements of defence industry initiatives that will strengthen NATO's deterrence and defence, and therefore also Finland's security.

A replacement for NATO's manned surveillance aircraft, an asset owned and operated by NATO, was announced at the Defence Industry Forum. A multinational joint procurement will purchase up to 10 Saab GlobalEye aircraft for use by NATO. In another effort to improve NATO's air surveillance capabilities, a letter of intent was signed by several member states, including Finland, to procure the same capability for national needs, integrating it with the capability procured for NATO. In addition, a letter of intent was signed at the forum to expand NATO's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities by procuring MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft systems.

NATO's High Visibility Projects

At the Defence Industry Forum, Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen signed several agreements related to NATO's High Visibility Projects (HVPs). With HVPs, NATO wants to advance the objectives of the NATO Defence Planning Process (NDPP) and create multinational initiatives to encourage countries to develop the same capabilities.

Finland has joined several HVPs, including the Multi Role Tanker Transport Capability (MRTT-C) project where Allies will collectively invest in a fleet of MRTT multi-function aircraft. MRTTs are capable of strategic airlift, medical evacuation as well as air-to-air refuelling, which would be a new capability for Finland. The other HVPs Finland joined concern air defence, space technologies and defence critical raw materials, among other fields.

"Finland is actively involved in capability development within NATO. The agreements signed at the Defence Industry Forum are concrete examples of NATO's 360-degree approach whereby the Alliance prepares for threats and strengthens its defence across all domains. It is important for Finland that we invest in space technologies, air defence and the Arctic," Minister of Defence Häkkänen said.

Other agreements signed by the Minister of Defence

At the Defence Industry Forum, Minister of Defence Häkkänen also signed several other agreements aimed at strengthening cooperation among Allies in various fields. For example, Finland joined the statement of intent, presented by the United States, on strengthening the defence industry capacity through procurement coalitions and signed a statement of intent with the United States concerning exploration of industrial cooperation on missiles.

The Minister of Defence signed the following agreements at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum:

• Arctic Mobility SoI
• Air Defence Capabilities Against Lower-Level Air Threats HVP MoU
• Crewed Airborne Early Warning HVP LoI
• Defence Critical Raw Materials (DCRM) HVP MoU
• Generic NATO Indirect Fire Round (GENIFR) HVP MoU
• Hybrid Allied Layered Operations in Space (HALO) HVP LoI
• Multi Role Tanker Transport Capability (MRTT) HVP MoU
• NATO Flight Training Europe (NFTE)
• NISRF Fleet Expansion LoI
• Passive Air Surveillance Capabilities HVP MoU
• Statement of Intent Concerning Exploration of Industrial Cooperation on AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile
• Statement of Intent Concerning the Establishment of Procurement Coalitions

Inquiries: Olli Ruutu, Director General, Ministry of Defence, tel. +358 295 140 400, and Johanna Hämäläinen, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Defence, tel. +358 295 140 086.