The overall value of the procurement without value added tax is about EUR 134 million. It will be financed from the second supplementary budget, which included additional funding for rapidly launched defence materiel procurements.
– I am pleased that the option to buy these armoured howitzers, as agreed in the procurement contract, will now be fully taken up. This procurement will significantly strengthen the striking power of the Army, says Minister Kaikkonen.
Finland procured armoured howitzers for the first time in 2017 from KOTRA, the trade promotion agency of the Republic of Korea. The procurement of a total of 48 armoured howitzers included an option of 48 armoured howitzers, of which ten howitzers were previously procured for the Army.
While K9 self-propelled howitzers will significantly improve the Army’s fire power the system’s key benefit is how it combines mobility, force protection and fire power. Armoured howitzers have proved to be reliable in Finland, and they have proved highly useful both in the training of conscripts and in shooting practice.
