Finland has launched its Northern Strike 225 exercise in Lapland, sending a strong signal of NATO’s growing firepower and readiness in the High North. With 2,200 troops, around 500 military assets, and the first-ever deployment of Poland’s Homar-K rocket launchers to Finland, the drill represents one of the alliance’s most significant artillery demonstrations near the Russian frontier.
Conducted at the Rovajärvi training area—one of Western Europe’s largest live-fire ranges—the exercise brings together units from the Kainuu, Pori and Jaeger brigades, along with the Finnish Border Guard. Unfolding under early-winter conditions, the drill tests Finland’s entire artillery ecosystem: target acquisition, command-and-control, ammunition logistics, digital fire-control networks, and the ability to mass fires rapidly from dispersed positions.
Poland’s Homar-K launchers demonstrate NATO’s rapid reinforcement capability
Two Homar-K launchers from Poland’s 1st Masurian Artillery Brigade were airlifted to Finland aboard Ukrainian-operated Antonov An-124s—an unprecedented movement that highlights NATO’s ability to deploy heavy rocket artillery quickly to its northern flank.
The Homar-K system, capable of firing guided rockets up to 80 km and tactical ballistic missiles close to 300 km, showcases a rapidly deployable long-range fires capability. Its arrival proves that not only infantry or light vehicles, but also heavy precision-strike assets can be moved and integrated into Arctic conditions at short notice.
Finland’s powerful artillery corps forms the backbone of the exercise
Finland maintains one of Western Europe’s most capable artillery forces, featuring:
– K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzers
– Modernized 122 mm and 152 mm towed artillery
– RM-70 and upgraded BM-21 Grad MLRS systems
– 120 mm heavy mortars
– Advanced counter-battery radars and digital fire-control networks
Combined with strong conscription-based manpower, expanded domestic ammunition production and NATO infrastructure upgrades, Finland’s artillery forces are trained to operate in deep snow, dense forests and sub-Arctic temperatures.
A clear geostrategic message to Russia
The rapid deployment of Polish Homar-K systems by strategic airlift demonstrates NATO’s ability to reinforce Finland’s northern front with long-range precision fires on very short notice. It complicates any adversary’s planning along the 1,300-kilometre Finnish-Russian border and the approaches to the Kola Peninsula.
Beyond symbolism, the exercise forces NATO forces to refine real-world interoperability:
– Harmonizing firing procedures
– Ensuring secure and compatible communications
– Coordinating air-ground deconfliction
– Managing resupply of high-end rockets under harsh weather
Northern Strike 225 turns Lapland into a showcase of NATO’s evolving northern deterrent. Even with only a small number of foreign launchers, the integration and employment of Homar-K systems alongside Finland’s extensive artillery structure demonstrate a new level of allied readiness and cohesion—one that reinforces the message that any threat to the region would face a unified and rapidly deployable wall of long-range firepower.
