ET, the Defence Forces and the government have been arguing over the issue most of the autumn. Research done in western Europe and the United States points to windmills interfering with the reliability of radar, a view echoed by the Technical Research Center of Finland.

In recent years windmills have grown taller and the size of wind power parks has increased.

"We want reliable and sensible research done across Finland on the effects of radar and wind power parks for training and schooling purposes," says Lieutenant-Colonel Arto Ikonen, from the General Staff of the Defence Forces.

"By no means are we opposed to wind power, but the effects have to be studied quickly."

Government won't pay for study

Finland's Energy Industries ET and power companies have agreed to pay for half of the hundreds of thousands of euros needed for the study, but says neither the military nor the government is willing to co-operate.

"We've asked the Defence Forces, and they won't help pay for it," says ET's Director of Power Generation, Jukka Leskelä. "Neither will the Defence Ministry, nor the Ministry of Employment and the Economy."

ET feels that the Defence Forces' views have essentially stagnated windmill construction in Finland. In Kotka, for example, local power company Kotkan Voima has suspended plans to build a wind power park because of military objections.

"On the one hand, the government supports building wind power, but then a government agency, the Defence Forces, blocks their construction, and the government has no money to study the issue," fumes Leskelä.

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Patria believes that a new deal will be reached sometime this autumn.

According to Seppo Seppälä, Executive Vice President of Patria's Land & Armament business unit, the Slovenian armed forces want to modify the existing contract to cut the number of 8x8 vehicles from 135 to around 80 and to upgrade features of the vehicle on order.

In June, Slovenia decided to make heavy cuts in its defense budget.

The original deal was for 135 of the armoured personnel carriers to be delivered to the Slovenian army and was worth around 280 million euros. With upgraded models, the value of the lower number of vehicles will be about the same.

Patria delivered the first of the 135, after delays, in mid-June of this year. According to contract, delivery of the first 13 was to have taken place in late 2008.

The Slovenian military has also expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of the vehicles delivered.

"Patria is delivering exactly what was ordered under the contract. We are now discussing details that were not completely specified in the contract. Claims that we have delivered something other than was agreed upon, are not true," says Patria's Seppälä.

Patria is under investigation for paying bribes to Slovenian defence ministry officials and to former Prime Minister Janez Janša. One of the chief suspects in the case is an Austrian. Investigations into the allegations are under way in Finland, Slovenia and Austria.

Finland's National Bureau of Investigation is also carrying out an investigation into whether Patria's subsidiaries or personnel are guilty of bribery in connection with the company's field gun manufacturing technology sales in Egypt.

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In addition to the now delivered vehicle, the Slovenian Ministry of Defence will receive another 12 Patria AMV 8x8 vehicles this month.

Patria and Slovenia signed the 280 million euro armoured vehicle deal in 2006. All 135 of the carriers on order are scheduled for delivery by the end of 2013.

As late as in April, the Slovenian newspaper Delo published a report that the government was considering either cancelling the contract or reducing the number of vehicles to 85 because of delays in deliveries. In addition, there was dissatisfaction with the quality of the vehicles being offered.

Patria is alleged to have paid bribes to officials at the Slovenian Ministry of Defence and to Prime Minister Janez Jansa. One of the main suspects is an Austrian. Police investigations are under way not only in Finland, but also in Slovenia and Austria.

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The Committee's report says that Finland has signed weapons industry contracts with Israel worth millions of euros. Weapons technology is also being sold to Columbia, which has long fought an internal war against separatists, and Ethiopia, which is still at war with neighbouring Eritrea.

The report also says that weapons technology ended up in China, which is under a weapons sale ban.

On a global scale, Finland is a minor player in the weapons industry. In monetary terms, armoured vehicles and their parts are Finland’s most important export products. Other key military export products include ammunition and biological warfare protection gear.

90% of Sales to the West

Some 90 percent of Finland’s arms sales are to other western states. Egypt is Finland’s key non-western arms trading partner.

Arms sales are a multi-billion euro business. Between 1998 and 2007, Finland’s weapons sales totalled 375 billion euros. In the past decade the sale of Finnish military equipment grew by 40 percent, according to the report

Eighty-three percent of Finland’s exported arms go to other EU states. Sweden and Poland are Finland’s most important arms trade partners with the EU, accounting for 60 percent of Finnish arms exports. Other important partners include Egypt, the United States, Norway and several Middle Eastern states.

The Committee of 100 in Finland’s study is based on information drawn from archives of the Interior and Defence ministries and from customs databases.

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Finland plans to buy new Nato-compliant anti-aircraft missiles to replace Russian-made missiles that will be taken out of service. The government will also decide on whether or not to update its air surveillance radar system.

Finland will soon decide on a major arms acquisition – the largest since its purchase of Hornet strike fighter jets last year. Government plans to replace its arsenal of Russian-made BUK anti-aircraft missiles, purchased in 1996, with a new missile system currently in use in other Nato countries. There are two other alternatives: Norwegian-American NASAMS missiles or the French-Italian SAMP/T system.

YLE sources say that a decision on the deal is due next week. The new missile defence system would become active after 2015, and its cost is said to be more than 400 million euros. Expert sources estimate that compatibility with Nato systems is a key factor, but not the only reason for giving up the Russian missiles.

“We are talking about a major deal and many factors need to be taken into consideration,” said Olli Nepponen, Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Defence Committee. “This deal might also prove to be beneficial to other domestic procurement projects,” he added.

Government is also expected to decide on revamping the radar system for air surveillance. Information obtained by YLE indicates that the total price tag of the arms deal could be up to 700 million euros. Against the backdrop of the economic decline, such a significant undertaking could bring benefits for industry in terms of reciprocal trade.

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