Finland has joined NATO's multinational Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) programme. The country will thereby gain access to flight hours on the Airbus A330 MRTT and become part of the alliance's shared capability for air-to-air refuelling, strategic airlift, and medical evacuation.
According to a press release from the Finnish Defence Forces (Puolustusvoimat) Logistics Command, the accession makes Finland the ninth participant in the programme, joining Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Germany.
The MRTT programme is based on a jointly owned and operated fleet of aircraft under a so-called pooling and sharing model. The aircraft are owned by NATO and managed by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), while the multinational MRTT unit operates from air bases in Eindhoven (the Netherlands) and Cologne (Germany).
For Finland, the accession also represents a new operational capability.
– In terms of air-to-air refuelling, this is an entirely new capability for Finland, and through this accession Finland is participating in the development and expansion of NATO's shared capacity, writes the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command.
Finland will also contribute personnel to the multinational MRTT unit.
In a separate press release, NATO states that the nine member nations simultaneously announced that the tenth Airbus A330 MRTT within the programme will be delivered shortly. The fleet is ultimately intended to comprise a total of twelve aircraft.