Finland’s Army Academy is expanding its training on the K9 heavy self-propelled howitzer. The Armour School will open a K9 line on Armoured Reserve Officer Course 269, which starts in November 2026, the Finnish Army said.
– The Armour School has had an armoured fire-direction line since the 1990s, but we have never before trained artillery firing-position operations, said Lieutenant Colonel Mika Mäenpää, commander of the Armour School.
The new line will train K9 platoon leaders and fire operations officers. It will run in close cooperation with the Armoured Brigade and the Karelia Brigade, which produce the howitzer units. Since autumn 2026, the Artillery School has also included the K9 in the Army’s field artillery NCO training. That howitzer training takes place at the Armoured Brigade.
Finland has bought K9s from South Korea in 2017, 2021, 2022 and 2026. Conscript and reservist training has run since 2019. According to the Army, the new purchases and experience so far created a need for more training of leaders and instructors.
Until now, firing positions were simulated in frame exercises, or mortars supported live-fire training. Mäenpää said the change will significantly improve training in the use of fires as a whole.