Corporal Frisk Profile picture
Robin Häggblom, 'Friendliest military blogger in the Nordics' according to @PeterOlsson 😎 Focus on naval questions. Works at @InPlaceGeo, but posts my own.
Joao dos Reis Alberto Profile picture 1 subscribed
Feb 15, 2023 13 tweets 7 min read
Seems #Germany is upset about the limited number of #Leopard donors to #Ukraine. While I have long been arguing for more aid to Ukraine, I'm somewhat unsure what exactly is the core of the criticism in this case. The decision to approve exports was good, and #Scholtz et al. deserve credit for it. At the same time, it took months longer than it had to. This discrepancy is at the heart of (at least my) criticism towards #Germany.
Feb 13, 2023 6 tweets 5 min read
The Swedish silent service is on quite a visible PR-campaign in Finnish media. First we had a surprisingly long article dealing with a well-publicised exercise from last spring when the Swedish submarine #HMSUppland visited the waters around #Hanko. iltalehti.fi/politiikka/a/2… Some nice pictures from the event. The Finnish #Navy is getting more serious about hunting submarines following the #Hamina-class MLU, and getting a suitable 'target' to train on is key.
Feb 8, 2023 13 tweets 7 min read
100 #Leopard1A5 is good news for #Ukraine, even if it is significantly older than the Leopard 2A6 and a (serious) step below the 2A4. It is however in some ways what Ukraine needs. The bad news is that Leopard 1 is old, and the prime example is the main armament: the legendary 105 mm Royal Ordnance L7. Once the finest tank gun of the west and fitted to a host of different tanks, it is by now (as are rifled 105 mm guns in general) outdated.
Jan 24, 2023 14 tweets 6 min read
Things suddenly start to look interesting. Finnish FM #Haavisto to hold presser on Finnish and Swedish #NATO-membership application in 15 minutes. Ping @patrikoksanen @Cornubot @AWollstad @patrikoksanen @Cornubot @AWollstad Discussions have been made with Stoltenberg, Swedish FM Billström, and Turkish FM. No issues with Hungary, they assure us they won't be last to ratify us.
Jan 22, 2023 13 tweets 6 min read
So apparently we are now doing the "Actually, Germany is pretty good and this is all the evil Poles' and Britts' doing". I will disagree. To begin with, yes, there is a some of truth to the fact that #Germany has done more when it comes to supporting #Ukraine then they get credit for. In particular on the air defence side of things, the Gepards and IRIS-T have made a real impact, to take the obvious example.
Jan 21, 2023 5 tweets 5 min read
#OSINT-wizard @emilkastehelmi in action in #Kokkola on today's #turpo-seminar. #Ukraine #säkpol Image Discussing national security these days have a tendency to spark little joy, but it was a first-class event put on by @JanneJukkola and his team and I was truly happy to be part of this #turpo-seminaari on home turf - regardless of how it looks 😅! 📸 courtesy of the hosts Image
Dec 12, 2022 5 tweets 4 min read
The shopping spree continues: New 122 mm long-range rockets for our #RM70 bought from Israel. #turpo=#säkpol Interestingly, while the decision talks about "rockets" and not "missiles", the MoD has earlier talked about #GMLRS/#ERGMLRS as rockets, so wouldn't be sure they are unguided based on that.
Oct 10, 2022 21 tweets 6 min read
The massed attacks on #Ukraine today again raises the question about different approaches to managing the long-range ballistic and cruise missile threat. 🧵 I am not claiming to have written the book on the topic, but I did write a chapter with that headline for the Swedish Defence Research Agency (@FOIresearch) a few years ago, so I have given it some thought. The tl;dr version is that it's hard. foi.se/en/foi/news-an…
Sep 28, 2022 6 tweets 4 min read
Keep your eyes on this one: Finland acquires long-range 155 mm munitions for our #K9Moukari SPGs, which will add "significantly" to the range of the system. #artillery #turpo=#säkpol Obviously, L/52 guns, base bleed-projectiles, and so forth has meant ranges in general have been growing in recent years for artillery. However, Finland has already picked the low-hanging fruit, including getting the @Nammo 155 mm IM HE-ER (40 km range). nammo.com/product/our-pr…
Jun 6, 2022 10 tweets 6 min read
#Finland has - in my opinion correctly from both a moral point of view as well as according to our own security interests - declared that we would not join #NATO before #Sweden in case #Turkey would let us in easier/faster. #turpo=#säkpol #FISE 1/3 keski-uusimaa.fi/uutissuomalain… *However*, I hope it has been made absolutely clear to the Swedish government that it can't at this time look like they are even contemplating concessions to #Kakabaveh, and in case they do, we might have to backtrack on the promise. 2/3 svt.se/nyheter/inrike…
May 3, 2022 8 tweets 4 min read
Au contraire, as Finland has built the armed forces around conscripts and reservists, the politicians need to be honest with the fact that if we see a large war where #NATO rush to defend a member, we don't have a second defence force for the defence of others. #turpo=#säkpol Of course, for situations where Finland's contribution is limited in size and scope, the idea argued by @charlyjsp of having a dedicated high-readiness battalion-sized unit of volunteer reservists on standby is a nice fit, and that answers all situations #NATO has faced so far.
Apr 3, 2022 9 tweets 4 min read
With so much happening in #Ukraine, I decided to take on three shorter topics in a blog post, namely the deep #helicopter strike on #Belgorod, whether #Russia can replace their losses, and what to do with the Ukrainian requests for more advanced weaponry. corporalfrisk.com/2022/04/03/a-u… I could also shortly comment on the mass killings in #Bucha. This should not be a surprise for anyone by now, it isn't an accident, but it is how the Russian Army and the Soviet before that has operated consistently.
Mar 29, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read
So to add some measure of scale to the Russian tank losses, let's look at this table of operational Russian tanks. ...which is found in this paper: iai.it/en/pubblicazio… . Yes, there's a bunch of caveats about it being a few years old and any estimate is bound to have some uncertainty, but if we assume it gives the correct order of magnitude...
Mar 16, 2022 5 tweets 3 min read
Mar 3, 2022 11 tweets 6 min read
Pic of yesterday's Russian incursion into Swedish air space close to #Gotland where Finnish and Swedish MoD were meeting at time to inspect an exercise. Good news is they aren't flying in tactical formation, but rather bunched up in a more peaceful formation. #FISE #turpo=#säkpol Bad news is that that is still two Su-24 strike aircraft escorted by two Su-27 fighters knowingly violating the airspace of a sovereign state with the aim of pressuring them to change their foreign policy.

I suggest that we do not give in to international bullying.
Dec 10, 2021 21 tweets 6 min read
#BREAKING: F-35A winner of #HXhanke program to replace Finnish F/A-18C/D Hornets. #turpo=#säkpol #F35 64 aircraft, weaponry suitable for Finnish scenario, all gate checks passed, budget within framework (including annual costs below set limit of 254 MEUR).
Dec 5, 2021 23 tweets 6 min read
Okay, time for another thread on everyone's favourite topic - the real cost of #F35 and can #Finland afford it in #HXhanke. The reason is that the Norwegian budget and Swiss acquisition costs are out, and they have caused quite a stir. 1/x #turpo=#säkpol The Swiss number caused quite a stir, including talk about the aircraft having gone up 20% in cost since the decision was made. I don't quite get those figures, but an increase of 17% (5.07 Bn CHF to 5.95 Bn CHF). 2/x vbs.admin.ch/content/vbs-in…
Dec 3, 2021 5 tweets 2 min read
The five suspected #terrorists arrested in Finland today (though considering the police has had eyes on them for years we can most probably for all intents and purposes drop "suspected") represent a hardcore version of #accelerationism or #SiegeCulture. Explanatory thread below. In short, they are inspired by James Mason's ideas that through terror a race war can be kicked off, and then the white state can rise from the ashes. The most (in)famous group to adhere to the theory is likely #AtomwaffenDivision.
Apr 3, 2021 8 tweets 2 min read
Seems western hunters flying to Africa to shoot rare species is again in the headlines, this time in Sweden. I understand why this makes people upset, however, the situation is more complex than evil wannabe-colonialists wanting zebra heads above their fireplace. Some of the serious threats to African wildlife (to the extent such generalisations can be done to such a vast continent holding any number of different habitats) include poaching (due to either value of animal products or to protect crops and livestock) and habitat loss.
Apr 1, 2021 10 tweets 4 min read
I don't know if there's a real risk for a Russian offensive, or if the movements are just part of the training pattern leading up to #Zapad21. However, this is one of my pet peeves - it's hard to tell an exercise from preparations for war. #turpo=#säkpol corporalfrisk.com/2016/08/13/exe… "The only thing differentiating war from maneuvers is the last stage on the last day. The concentration of forces and the logistics is the same for both.” Lt.Col. Ben-Porat, AMAN, on lessons from Soviet repression of the Prague Spring (quoted in Rabinovich’s ‘The Yom Kippur War’)
Feb 26, 2021 35 tweets 12 min read
Plan for tomorrow 😎 #NextWarPoland #GMTgames #wargaming #boardgames Table starting to be set. Have houseruled some of the deployments to slightly better portray the current situation. It's not perfect, but current BAP countries and EFP leads are there.