Finland and Ukraine signed a new drone deal

The Finland-Ukraine drone deal signed on 23 September creates a framework for closer cooperation on drones, defence equipment and military technology. President of the Republic (tasavallan presidentti) Alexander Stubb and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the agreement in New York, but no overall procurement value or specific industrial contract has been announced.

Officially called the Agreement on Enhanced Defence and Security Cooperation, the deal is intended to strengthen the two countries’ defence capabilities, industrial cooperation and technological development. According to the Finnish Ministry of Defence, it will also support direct cooperation between Finnish and Ukrainian defence companies.

The Finland-Ukraine drone deal is a framework, not a single contract

The agreement allows Finland and Ukraine to cooperate on technology and knowledge transfers, research and development, innovation and joint industrial production, including projects related to drone technology.

It also aims to simplify administrative procedures such as export authorisations, making it easier to transfer defence equipment and technologies between the two countries.

The agreement itself, however, does not establish how many drones or other weapons will be produced or purchased. No total financial value has been announced, and individual industrial projects will have to follow within the framework now created by the two governments.

The initiative was first proposed by Zelenskyy to Prime Minister (pääministeri) Petteri Orpo when they met in Armenia in May. Negotiations then continued during the summer and early autumn under the leadership of Finland’s Ministry of Defence.

Orpo said the cooperation is also intended to help Finland adapt its own defence capabilities to lessons emerging from the war in Ukraine.

“Ukraine has developed its defence capability and industry in ways we can learn a lot from in Finland. This new agreement both supports Ukraine’s defence and is a concrete step towards preparing Finland’s defence industry and defence forces for a new, more technologically sophisticated era of warfare.”

Finland wants to learn from Ukraine’s wartime experience

The agreement reflects the growing importance of Ukraine’s experience in developing and using drones during Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Yle reports that Ukraine already has similar “drone deal” agreements with around 10 countries. Although the individual arrangements differ, they generally combine support for Ukrainian defence with access for partner countries to Ukrainian expertise and opportunities for joint production.

For Finland, the cooperation is therefore intended to work in both directions. Ukraine can receive additional weapons and industrial capacity, while Finnish companies and the Finnish Defence Forces can gain knowledge from technologies developed and tested under wartime conditions.

Minister of Defence (puolustusministeri) Antti Häkkänen said the agreement creates opportunities for both Finnish industry and Ukraine’s defence.

“This agreement will open significant opportunities for both the Finnish defence industry and for strengthening Ukraine’s defence capability. It will bring our excellent cooperation to a whole new level.”

Joint drone production had already started taking shape

The new framework builds on industrial cooperation that was already developing before the agreement was signed.

During Stubb’s visit to Kyiv in August, Finnish companies Patria, Insta and Boomeranger signed memorandums of understanding with Ukrainian companies on joint production, according to Yle.

On the same visit, Stubb said he expected around 90 percent of Finland’s drone production to go to Ukraine, with the remaining 10 percent staying in Finland. That figure was presented before the framework agreement was signed and is not a commitment contained in the new deal itself.

The agreement signed in New York now provides the governmental framework within which projects of this kind can develop.

For Helsinki, the cooperation therefore connects continued support for Ukraine with a broader objective: strengthening Finland’s defence industry and learning from the technological changes that the war has accelerated. How large that cooperation becomes will depend on the contracts and industrial projects that follow.