The activity, designated Baltic Sentry, is an integral part of the alliance’s collective defence, and while the Finnish Navy continues to perform their national missions of surveillance and safeguarding of Finnish waters, Baltic Sentry will add another layer to the normal activities. This will include increased presence at sea, heightened surveillance and exchange of information, as well as further exercises together with NATO allies.
A crucial detail is that this will include both naval capabilities and vessels under Finnish national command – as is the standard – but also the first example of a Finnish Navy vessel participating as part of Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1). As reported earlier, Finland is deploying a Hamina-class fast attack craft during 2025, and now it is confirmed that the vessel will operate in the Baltic Sea region during January and February, starting within the near future. The Hamina-class is significantly smaller than the usual participants of SNMG1 (and its sister unit SNMG2), but with the deployment taking place in the Baltic Sea region the size and limited endurance will be less of an issue compared to a deployment in the North Sea.
With regards to the surveillance and exercise activities, these will build upon the normal flow of operations, with the Finnish Navy emphasising them forming a “continuum with NATO’s peacetime operations”. The stated aim is to increase deterrence and safeguard regional security of the Baltic Sea as a whole, as well as enhancing surveillance compared to the regular levels. With the exception of the single Hamina-class units, no further details about the increased exercise activities are provided, but the Navy states that they will include “several” vessels and units over a period stretching from the next weeks and into the coming months. Which units and vessels will be deployed depends on the situation and requirements of the missions.
Deputy Chief of Staff Navy Operations, Captain (N) Marko Laaksonen said:
“NATO’s rapid contribution to the Baltic Sea is an expression of the alliance’s ability to respond to the situation in an appropriate way. The enhanced presence created in cooperation with other authorities safeguards sea connections and infrastructure that are vital for all of us, and we are closely involved in this cooperation,”
Baltic Sentry was launched following the Summit of Baltic Sea Allies held on 14 January 2025 in Helsinki, co-hosted by NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte along with President Alexander Stubb of Finland and Prime Minister Kristen Michal of Estonia, and coming in response to a number of incidents involving damage to sea-based infrastructure. This includes cut power and data cables, as well as the damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline in 2023 which put the Finnish-Estonian pipeline out of service for six months. At the meeting, Rutte noted that, “Ship captains must understand that potential threats to our infrastructure will have consequences, including possible boarding, impounding, and arrest.”
