Finnish MoD to Support Joining NATO Airlift Consortium
By GERARD O?DWYER, HELSINKI
Finland?s Ministry of Defense (MoD) is preparing a policy positional document that recommends the Finnish Defense Forces (FDF) join the NATO-led Strategic Airlift Consortium program (SAC).
The NATO SAC project, which involves the 15 European NATO members and Sweden, aims to coordinate military transports via air, sea and land. The project seeks to merge each country?s military transport management centers into one central command organization.
?The main goal of the NATO program is to make international transports more efficient by coordinating shipments into fewer overall transports, and thereby saving fuel and money,? said the MoD?s Brig. Gen. Arto R?ty.
A decision by Finland to join the SAC would bring the country closer to the possibility of midair refueling cooperation, which may lead to related training opportunities for Finnish troops, he said.
?For example, if one country has a ship going to Africa for some operation, and there is room on the ship, that ship could be routed so that as many other countries as possible could also take advantage of it to ship military hardware and support goods,? R?ty said.
The MoD plans to present its proposal advocating joining the NATO SAC before May, according to the MoD. NATO is planning to open a new hub-transport center in the Netherlands in July.
?Such a facility would improve Finland?s supply security by sea, our air transport ability, and holds the possibility of aerial refuelling cooperation,? R?ty said.
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