Building work on all four of the Finnish Navy’s Pohjanmaa-class multi-purpose corvettes is now underway at the Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) shipyard.
The firm announced last week that the first steel had been cut on the fourth new warship and at the same time conducted a keel-laying ceremony for the third vessel in the Finnish Navy’s Squadron 2020 project.
RMC won the contract to construct the ships in 2019; the total cost of the programme has been estimated at about €1.3 billion. The first-in-class vessel was launched in May 2025 and is scheduled to be commissioned into service in 2027.
They will be 117m long and displace 4,300 tonnes, so would usually be classified as frigates, but the Finnish MoD designates them as corvettes as they are chiefly intended to operate in littoral waters rather than as blue-water ships.
Their combat management systems are being supplied by Saab; Kongsberg is supplying the underwater sensor suite and Exail is responsible for inertial navigation systems. The corvettes will be armed with a naval gun, air and surface missiles, and torpedoes. They will also feature a helicopter deck and hangar.
CEO and President of RMC Mika Nieminen commented: “We are very pleased to now have all the multi-purpose corvettes of Pohjanmaa class under construction at the Rauma Shipyard. We have industrialised our procedures and construction processes to meet the requirements of our clients’ demanding projects.”
Construction work on all four vessels is expected to be completed by 2029. RMC has also recently won a contract to build two Arctic Security Cutters for the U.S. Navy across the same timeframe.
- You can read more details on the RMC website