Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen: Finland will host a series of NATO Innovation Range events

Finland will host a series of testing events led by NATO’s Allied Command Transformation (ACT) as part of the national implementation of NATO Innovation Range. The events will be held in Riihimäki, Joensuu, Oulu and Turku.

The NATO Innovation Range (NIR) events are an opportunity for companies who are developing defence and security technologies to test the feasibility of their innovations in practice and ascertain that they meet the requirements of real-world situations and environments. Each of the four events offer companies a specific environment to test their innovations, including command and control, NATO’s eastern flank, High North and the maritime domain.

“The NATO Innovation Range events in Finland offer companies high-quality, realistic conditions and a world-class testing infrastructure. These NATO-led testing events bring together developers of new technologies and end-users in the defence administration. They promote interoperability of Allied systems and foster performance in demanding operational domains,” Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen said.

Both Finnish companies and international companies from NATO member states will be participating in the events. They will be testing command and control systems, system integration, artificial intelligence and data applications, communications technologies, sensor systems and counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS).

In connection with the Innovation Range events, a testing event for NATO’s Layered Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Initiative (LCI-X) will be held. The LCI-X aims to enable the development of new and innovative C-UAS technologies.

“Our active participation in NATO’s research, development and innovation activities will strengthen our security and create new business opportunities for Finnish technology companies. Organising these events in Finland is possible thanks to our strong innovation ecosystems,” Minister Häkkänen said.

Finland’s Ministry of Defence will act as the national authority responsible for the testing events. It has authorised Digital Defence Ecosystem and the Defence Innovation Network Finland (DEFINE) to organise the events series together with Borderland Europe, Business Joensuu, Business Oulu and Business Turku.

Inquiries: Ville Elo, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Defence, tel. +358 295 140 202.