An international Naval Mines Cooperation (NMC) project concerning the common procurement of naval mines has advanced to the framework agreement phase. As a representative of the lead nation, the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command has signed a contract with the Finnish company Forcit on procuring the Blocker Influence Mine for the participating countries. So far, Finland, Germany, Denmark, Lithuania and Norway have joined the project. The total value of the contract is hundreds of millions of Euros.
Finnish Navy press release – Translated by Naval News
Selecting Finland as the lead nation of the naval mines cooperation project is a reflection of the Finnish Navy’s long-standing capability in naval mining and the high-quality of Finnish industry. The purpose of the cooperation is to reinforce the naval defence of Allies. The cooperation is based on a Declaration of Intent signed in July 2024 and approved by many countries in the Baltic Sea and North Sea regions.
Aiming to strengthen maritime defence
Based on the 2024 Declaration of Intent, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Finland and Estonia have signed a Framework Agreement on the NMC project. Possible areas for cooperation include common procurement, naval cooperation, logistics, system operation and life cycle management, training and exercises, information exchange and weapon system development.
The importance of naval mines in defensive operations is widely recognised and the conditions in both the Baltic Sea and the North Sea are well-suited for naval mining. Blocker, manufactured by Forcit Group, is a modern naval influence mine utilising state-of-the-art sensors that enables its flexible use in different maritime defence scenarios.
Naval mines cooperation supports the security of the Baltic Sea Region and the collective defence of the Allies in a situation where the importance of surveillance of maritime areas and maritime defence has increased. The Finnish Navy has maintained a high expertise in naval mine-laying and consistently improved and developed the different areas of mine-laying capability, such as mines, the ability to lay mines, maintenance and logistics. Finland also has the industrial capacity to produce modern naval mines.
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Naval News comments:
The Blocker Influence Sea Mine System is designed and produced by Finnish company Oy FORCIT Ab (Forcit Defence).
The Naval Mine Cooperation initiative was first announced in July 2024.
NATO in 2024 issued new requirements calling its member states to be able to lay a set number of sea mines. Naval News understands the number varies depending on the geographical location of the member state as well as on the size of its navy.
