To prevent Russian invasion, Finland plans to build anti-tank barriers on the border

Russia's aggression in Ukraine has prompted Finland, a Nordic country bordering Russia, to rethink its defense policy and continue to strengthen its national defense. The commander of the Finnish Army said that he is studying the construction of anti-tank facilities modeled on the Ukrainian battlefield in the border area with Russia to strengthen border security.

Bloomberg reported on the 7th that Finnish Army Commander Pasi Valimaki pointed out that although the war between Ukraine and Russia is still ongoing, Russia has begun to rebuild its military capabilities, and the replenishment of weapons inventory has begun to bear fruit, including T-90 combat vehicles, BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles and 2S19 self-propelled guns that are being sent to storage facilities. The border between Finland and Russia is 1,340 kilometers long, accounting for half of the land border between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Russia. Finland is unable to prevent Russia from rearmament, so the goal is to establish a deterrent threshold that is enough to convince the Russian military that "the offensive will fail."

He said that during the Ukraine-Russia war, Kiev deployed a large number of anti-tank trenches or obstacles to slow down the advancement of the Russian army. For this type of fortifications, both warring parties have yet to find a reliable way to break through to resume large-scale mobile operations; Finland's environment is more challenging, and it is necessary to think about how to transform such anti-tank fortifications into ones suitable for use in the harsh climate conditions of Northern Europe.

After the end of the Cold War, Finland still maintained a conscription system and a homeland defense reserve system. Although its population is only about 5.6 million, it can mobilize about 280,000 people during wartime. Valimaki said that in the two years after Russia invaded Ukraine, Finland improved its combat readiness, recruited 60,000 reserve soldiers, and accelerated the replenishment of key material inventories. Finland is also promoting the comprehensive modernization of the army, which will continue until the end of the 2030s, including related expenditures on equipment, force structure, combat readiness, and sustained combat capabilities. It is expected to invest at least 11.6 billion euros.

Valimaki said that the war in Ukraine has shown the scale of air and missile threats that Finland may face. However, under the concept of NATO's "Eastern Flank Deterrence Line" (Eastern Flank Deterrence Line), we cannot just rely on intercepting missiles and drones. We must also have the ability to strike the launchers before the enemy launches them. For Finland, this means that it may have to attack targets in Russia.

He also rejected the idea that new technologies such as drones would make traditional weapons obsolete, saying that Finland needs to build the ability to quickly expand its military production capacity by 10 times in times of crisis. He admitted frankly that Finland has a population of only 5 million and "we do not want to fall into a war of attrition."