Finland has decided to purchase anti-aircraft equipment from one of two Israeli companies, either Israel Aerospace Industries or Rafael Advanced Systems, Finland's defense ministry said on Saturday.
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In October 2020, Finland had sent an invitation for bids to five companies including Germany's Diehl Defense, Norway's Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace, the UK's MBDA, and the two Israeli companies with which it now intends to continue negotiations, the ministry said.
"In this scheme, we will upgrade the anti-aircraft defense's high-altitude ability and increase significantly its reach," the ministry said in a statement.
The Nordic country, which is not a NATO member but shares a long border with Russia, recently decided to further step up its defense spending and deepen cooperation with the United States in a reaction to Russia's war in Ukraine.
Within the framework of its anti-aircraft program, Finland plans to purchase equipment such as transporter erector launchers, radar systems, missiles and related integration equipment, the ministry said, adding that the goal is to make a final purchase decision in early 2023.
Russia does not want Finland or Sweden to join NATO and just a week ago Moscow made its latest warning to them of "serious military-political consequences" if they did. Finish President Sauli Niinisto has maintained that Finland, a European Union member, has a right to seek NATO membership but tamped down talk of doing so in the midst of a crisis.
The war in Ukraine has roused concerns among other European countries neighboring Russia. Finland shares an 833-mile (1,340-km) border with Russia and opinion polling shows support for full membership of NATO has grown since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24.
"This process of security cooperation is about concrete security and defense factors, not so much about memberships," Niinisto said after meeting US President Joe Biden in Washington on Friday. But he added that Finland meets the criteria to join NATO.
During their hour-and-a-half-long White House meeting, Biden called Finland a "strong defense partner" helping a "united trans-Atlantic response to holding Russia accountable."
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