NATO Membership and Finnish Military Logistics
The Finnish Defence Forces’ logistics system is deeply interconnected with international partners and allies. With Finland’s NATO membership, allied logistics is planned across borders throughout the Nordic region and the Alliance area. Cooperation with allies also extends to defence materiel matters.
The tasks of the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command include planning and implementing practical logistics arrangements for the Finnish Defence Forces troops both domestically and abroad. Even before Finland’s NATO membership, the statutory duties of the Finnish Defence Forces have, since 2017, included maintaining the capability to receive and provide military assistance to another state. Fulfilling this task has required the development of military logistics arrangements and readiness.
With Finland’s NATO membership, military logistics planning approaches the Nordic NATO member nations as a single cross-border entity. Key elements of alliance’s joint planning include, among others, logistics support for troops, transport infrastructure, and the storage of materiel. In the near future, NATO’s Joint Logistics Support Group Northwest (JLSG NW) established in Sweden will play a key role in logistics coordination in the Nordic area of operations.
In addition to allied joint coordination, also bilateral military logistics cooperation takes place between Finland and other allied nations. Finnish Defence Forces’s partners include Sweden and Norway within the Finnish-Swedish and Finnish-Norwegian defence cooperation programs (FISE and FINO respectively) and within the framework of the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) with the United States.
In addition to military logistics, Nordic cooperation also covers defence materiel procurement and armament programs both bilaterally and through the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO).
Host Nation Support and RSOM Activities
A key form of logistical support for allied troops operating in Finland is the provision of Host Nation Support (HNS) services, as well as the RSOM activities (Receiving, Staging, Onward Movement) of troops arriving to Finland.
The Host Nation Support for allied forces is, in practice, very similar to the support the Finnish Defence Forces provides to its own troops. Visiting forces are supported in entry arrangements to Finland, transportation and transport planning, accommodation, food, fuel, spare part and ammunition supply, medical services, and environmental protection.
Finland and NSPA
Finland’s co-operation with NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) and its predecessors dates back to the year 2000 when it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the NATO Maintenance and Supply Organisation (NAMSO). The role of NSPA is to support NATO member and partner countries in the cost-effective implementation of multinational procurement of materiel and services.
The Finnish Defence Forces cooperate with NSPA in materiel procurement, and through the agency Finnish companies also have the opportunity to offer their products and services to NATO member states.
Finland is also a member of the NSPA’s Operational Logistics Support Partnership (OLSP), which provides and develops logistical services for countries participating in international exercises and operations.
OLSP’s services have been used by the Finnish Defence Forces to support various operations and deployments, including the Finnish Air Force deployment to support NATO Air Policing and Shielding Missions in Romania in June-July 2024, and Finnish troop contributions to NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR) and Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) in Iraq.
Since 2025, the Defence Forces have also participated in the NSPA Medical Support Partnership programme, which enables cooperation in the procurement and development of medical materiel and services