Finland finalizing Hamina-class upgrade preparations

The Finnish defense forces have been cleared to sign a letter of intent and a pre-design activities contract with Patria for the upgrade of Hamina-class missile boats.

The mid-life upgrade (MLU) of the four vessels in the class will be performed as part of the Squadron 2000 upgrade program and will be worth around 199 million Euro.

Once completed, the MLU will extend the missile boats’ service life to the 2030s.

Upgrades are to start at the beginning of 2018 and to be completed by the end of 2021. In addition to hull and structure maintenance, Hamina boats will be equipped with light torpedoes, thus becoming the only units in the Finnish Navy with this capability. The addition of the torpedo capability will be the costliest part of the upgrade.

The Hamina class is comprised of FNS Hamina, FNS Tornio, FNS Hanko and FNS Pori. The ships were commissioned into the navy between 1998 and 2006.