Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces, President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö inspected the Finnish Air Force and the Finnish Defence Intelligence Agency in Tikkakoski, Jyväskylä on Tuesday, 6 October.
During the inspection visit, President Niinistö was briefed on the activities and current issues of the Air Force and the Defence Intelligence Agency. “I obtained a very impressive picture of operations. Both the Air Force and the Defence Intelligence Agency are facing the challenge that the world is evolving technologically at an enormous rate, and we need to stay with the pace. This visit left the feeling that we are closely monitoring development and keeping up,” said President Niinistö.
The Air Force is one of the three branches of the Defence Forces and it is responsible for Finland’s air defence and air operations. The Air Force’s main operating bases are Lapland Air Command in Rovaniemi, Karelia Air Command in Rissala, Satakunta Air Command in Pirkkala and the Air Force Academy in Tikkakoski. Ruska 20 is the largest exercise of the Finnish Air Force in 2020.
The Finnish Defence Intelligence Agency is a unit subordinate to the Defence Command and is responsible for gathering and analysing intelligence on the strategic military situation and the military situation of the neighbouring area. The Defence Intelligence Agency is mainly located in Helsinki and Jyväskylä.
Due to coronavirus cases and exposures identified in the Ruska 20 exercise, the review of the exercise and meetings with reservists were omitted from the President’s inspection programme.