Analysis: European defense contracts

BRUSSELS, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Norway has surplus funds for defense

The Norwegian armed forces will have an additional $370 million at its disposal during 2008 for the acquisition of defense system investments, which includes military equipment, infrastructure and property.

The NAF’s investment budget’s rise from $1.43 billion to $1.8 billion will enable its modernization scheme to make the army more mobile, capable of participating in international humanitarian aid and peacekeeping operations and strengthen defense in the country’s northern territories.

Total defense spending will be $5.72 billion next year in a move by the Norwegian government that comes as a surprise to many. The number exceeded even the Ministry of Defense’s own estimate by $55 million.

Although the army will be required to cut operating costs and save about 0.6 percent, it will remain present in Afghanistan throughout 2008 and will possibly also deploy engineers to the U.N.-African Union mission in Sudan.

With next year’s budget, the NAF is expected to acquire frigates, missile torpedo boats, new anti-ship missiles, transport aircraft, new maritime helicopters and new armored vehicles, according to Defense News.

The budget will be voted on by the Parliament on Nov. 10; it is widely expected to pass without a hiccup.

Croatia to buy Patria AMV

The Croatian army will be boosted by the acquisition of 84 Patria AMV eight-wheel-drive vehicles.

The vehicles, sold by Finnish company Patria for $160 million, will be delivered incrementally between 2008 and 2013, according to Defense News.

They will be produced by both Patria and Duro, which has an AMV production center, in a joint operation.

The fourth-generation Patria AMV has already proven its worth during crisis management operations for Finland.

Finnish armed forces face cutbacks

Unlike the United Kingdom and Norway, the Finnish government will be forcing its armed forces to make cutbacks.

Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen told Defense News that he envisioned a smaller, more modern army and that he had little choice but to cut the budgets considering the financial resources at his disposal.

The commander in chief, Adm. Juhani Kaskeala, has suggested that Finland’s wartime army should be reduced from 350,000 to about 230,000 troops, which Kaskeala was quick to add would still give Finland, where there is still a mandatory military service of six to 12 months, one of the largest armies in continental Europe.

Now that Finland no longer considers Russia a military threat, calls for defense cuts have been amplified by the rapidly rising cost of weapons technology, which the Finnish estimate at 8 percent per year.

Finland does plan to purchase more modern equipment. “The goal is a modern military that can protect Finland’s territory while improving its ability to take part in military operations run by NATO, the United Nations or the European Union,” Vanhanen told Defense News.

Kaskeala added that the only way for Finland to be able to afford modernizing its army would be to cut back on its number of troops. “If the monies allocated for material acquisition stay the same, the purchasing power of the acquisition budget will fall to half of the present level in the next decade,” he said. “We must seek to compensate quantity with quality. Equipment that is completely inadequate for modern warfare should be discontinued.”

NATO to EU: Spend more on ISAF mission

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has called on the Netherlands to spend more money equipping its ISAF Afghanistan mission.

The Dutch Ministry of Defense, one of the few sectors not affected by national budget cuts, has already promised to raise its budget for the Dutch mission in Afghanistan. The government says it will have to do so by selling off some of its military equipment.

Yet de Hoop Scheffer thinks these additional funds will not be sufficient to sustain the mission in Uruzgan province. He has called for other NATO members who do not have troops deployed in Afghanistan to chip in and help pay for the costs of those that do.