– During Freezing Winds 23, Sweden and Finland have jointly exercised and developed the capabilities we need in our shared operational area, says Ewa Skoog Haslum, Chief of Navy, in an article on the Swedish Armed Forces' website.
The aim of the exercise is to practice conducting a naval operation as part of a joint international operation, according to the Finnish Navy.
In addition to Finnish ships and troops, the exercise also includes NATO's Standing Naval Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1), which comprises a total of three ships from Germany and the Netherlands, as well as NATO's Standing Mine Countermeasures Group 1 (SNMCMG1), which includes a total of six ships from Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, and France, writes the Finnish Defence Forces in an article on 15 November.
During this year's Freezing Winds, Swedish naval vessels were based at Finnish archipelago bases to practice logistics supply.
– Freezing Winds 23 offers a good, demanding exercise environment to test the Finnish and Swedish navies' cooperation capabilities. We value the cooperation with Sweden very highly, says Rear Admiral Jukka Anteroinen, Chief of Staff of the Finnish Navy, in the Swedish Armed Forces' article.