The Finnish Ministry of Defence (Puolustusministeriö, Försvarsministeriet) will procure 57 mm munitions for use on the Finnish Navy’s vessels. The procurement is coordinated with Sweden so that the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command and the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV – Försvarets Materielverk) purchase the same materiel at the same time, thus obtaining compatible munitions for the Finnish and Swedish navies at a lower price. The supplier is BAE Systems Bofors AB, Sweden, the manufacturer of the Finnish Navy’s 57 mm artillery systems (57Mk3 and 57A).
The current procurement activity is being carried out in coordination with Sweden. The overall value of the procurement, without value added tax, is EUR 12.6 million. The procurement will complement the capabilities of the Finnish Navy’s surface combatants with regard to self-protection and air defence. The 57 mm artillery system is currently in use on Hämeenmaa-class minelayers, and the same system will be introduced for Pohjanmaa-class corvettes. BAE Systems Bofors AB, Sweden has previously provided its 57mm naval gun systems, including 57Mk3 and 57A, for other Finnish Navy vessels, including Hämeenmaa-class minelayer vessels.
The Pohjanmaa class is a series of four multi-role corvettes currently under development for the Finnish Navy as part of the Squadron 2020 (Finnish: Laivue 2020) project. Together with the existing four Hamina-class missile boats, the four new surface combatants will form the backbone of the Finnish Navy from the mid-2020s onwards. They will replace seven older vessels that have been or are due to be decommissioned; the minelayer Pohjanmaa, two Hämeenmaa-class minelayers and four Rauma-class missile boats. The overall length of the Pohjanmaa-class corvettes will be about 114 metres (374 ft 0 in) and the beam about 16 metres (52 ft 6 in).
Pohjanmaa-class corvettes will be armed with a single dual-purpose naval gun, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, anti-submarine torpedoes, naval mines, close-in weapon systems, and a decoy system. The forward-mounted Bofors 57 mm Mk3 dual-purpose main gun will be recycled from the Hamina-class missile boats. In addition, each Pohjanmaa-class corvette will be fitted with two Saab Trackfire remote controlled weapon stations for close-in self-defence and four Rheinmetall Multi Ammunition Softkill System (MASS) decoy launchers. The primary surface-to-surface armament of the Pohjanmaa class is the Gabriel 5 subsonic anti-ship missile.
