Finland prepared to host NATO Innovation Range
Finland's Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen signed a letter of intent concerning cooperation on fielding NATO Innovation Ranges at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in The Hague on Tuesday 24 June 2025. The letter of intent was also signed by Estonia, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands and Sweden.
In June, NATO defence ministers agreed on a Rapid Adoption Action Plan (RAAP) to speed up the adoption and integration of dual-use technologies and innovations. The aim is to strengthen NATO member states' political commitment to accelerate and facilitate the fielding of dual-use technologies and to increase funding for innovation.
"One of the key lessons learned in the war in Ukraine is that we must create more agile ways to field dual-use technologies. A key question is how to transform promising technologies and functional innovations from the development phase into the battlefield as quickly as possible. Finland is committed to NATO's efforts in this field, and we are currently planning how to build a NATO Innovation Range in Finland," said Minister of Defence Häkkänen.
The purpose of the letter of intent signed by Minister Häkkänen is to pave the way for the fielding of Innovation Ranges in Finland and in other NATO member states. The Innovation Range in Finland would focus on developing and testing next generation communications technologies. The signatories of the letter of intent also intend to review on a multinational basis the possibilities of harnessing existing research, development and innovation activities and other cooperation opportunities within the framework of RAAP principles.
"Finland has strong expertise in areas identified as central to NATO. Communications technologies is one such area. Finland has only just started to plan its contribution, but at this stage our goal is to establish the activities in the next few years. At a later stage in the planning we will also inform relevant businesses and research institutes about participation opportunities," said Häkkänen.
Inquiries: Alex Santaholma, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Defence, tel. +358 295 140 028; and Ville Elo, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Defence, tel. +358 295 140 202.