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  1. #11
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    Yeah, I got that white walkers thing, one of my favourite series ever :)

    With AK (Valmet version and others), they run dry to the end of days, all they really need is ammo. Sometimes when the temp goes below -30°C we replace the film of gun oil with paraffin/kerosene. Or just run them dry. Water is the enemy of a weapon at extreme cold, so in the field we have to store our weapons guarded outside to keep them cold if we are, depending on the mission, able to use heated tents. That would be during exercises only. Ice formed from condensed water inside the barrel or trigger mechanism might ruin ones day.

    Happened to me once during my basic training: executing an attack drill (uphill, naturally) I shot lots three mags of blanks, then with my weapon empty I jumped a guard and the exhausted yours truly was thrown into a pile of snow like I was a wee woolen mitten What happened was, I landed in the fluffy snow my Valmet at the leading edge of the ballistic projectile called me, by the force of the landing the bolt carrier was pulled back and...enter the snow inside the action. Like a fistful of snow. The snow melted and naturally almost simultaneously froze inside my still hot weapon rendering it utterly useless in a fraction of a second. Took me a while to clear action this frozen

    With more delicate weapon systems like the AR, we use high quality lubricants like Slip 2000 EWL which keeps its viscosity at temperatures as low as -40°C. Low temperatures are not an excuse to not to operate here in Finland, it's an opportunity to do our worst when the other guy is just concentrating at being miserable.

    An article of US troops training in Finland last year: http://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/us...apland/8600292

    Someone made an inspirational video of their training:



    I know, it's not nice to laugh at people failing, even we have to learn to ski before we master the craft :)

  2. #12
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    Kansas
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    You gents could get along with Kansas weather.

  3. #13
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    I fail to understand this Putin threat. He is like the global boogy man. Why would he want to invade Europe?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  4. #14
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    About Finland's geopolitical situation, just a few words... :)

    Putin isn't going to invade Europe, but he's got a task at hand: keep Russia in the league of the Big Boys. Parts of being a member of the geopolitical Big Boy Club is that you have a lot of money (fail), you can shake the rest of the world economically (fail) or you have to be a prominent military power (almost there). You may be a de facto power like the USA is, or you'll just have to maintain at least a more or less on some level strong and capable armed force and every now and then make demands to your neighbours which culminate as a show of force. Like they did in Ukraine. And Georgia. And Chechnya. And Finland...

    Also, a little skirmish every now and then keeps the crowd pleased with the administration and makes them forget their petty problems at least for a while, and at least in countries like the US and Soviet Russia. The first time after the World War II United Kingdom was really united was in 1982 when the ships left for the Falklands.

    With this background Finland as a small nonallied country is on the Putin's list of favorite targets.

    We here in Finland are experts on the subject matter as we've lived hundreds of years with this mad dog as our neighbour and we've seen it all already and repeatedly. Thus we have only one enemy which we prepare to fight with quite openly. When I was posted at Naval C&C, during exercises my targets with their known weaknesses for missile fire were real life Russian vessels...

    Russia Isn't interested in invading Finland per se, why on earth would they be, but what they are interested in is the fact, that we hold their Baltic fleet and St Petersburg area hostage with our anti-ship missiles. This has been one of the biggest problems since the first 12" coastal gun batteries were built on the opposite sides of the Gulf of Finland, the others in Finland and the others in Estonia. Yes, there was an area of cross fire in the between and no way to navigate to the Baltic sea and Atlantic ocean without the consent of both countries.

    There are other considerations, like the huge new gas line between Russia and Germany: who ever controls the gulf, controls the gas line.

    There is a relatively high probability of Russian aggression with which they wan't to achieve full control of the Baltic, this includes the invasion of the Swedish island of Gotland and Finnish islands of Åland, and military control of southern Finland by demanding a 500 km deep demilitarized zone or by demanding coastal areas for their own naval base as they did back in 1944 after which they held our capital Helsinki hostage with their guns.

    There is more than meets the eyes when looking from beyond the horizon :)



    The cannons are now decommissioned, but still in perfect working order:

  5. #15
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    Quote Originally Posted by AK-Gunner View Post
    There is a relatively high probability of Russian aggression with which they wan't to achieve full control of the Baltic...
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...nd-Sweden.html

  6. #16

    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    Thank you for these informative posts AK-Gunner

  7. #17
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    Quote Originally Posted by AK-Gunner View Post
    About Finland's geopolitical situation, just a few words... :)

    Putin isn't going to invade Europe, but he's got a task at hand: keep Russia in the league of the Big Boys. Parts of being a member of the geopolitical Big Boy Club is that you have a lot of money (fail), you can shake the rest of the world economically (fail) or you have to be a prominent military power (almost there). You may be a de facto power like the USA is, or you'll just have to maintain at least a more or less on some level strong and capable armed force and every now and then make demands to your neighbours which culminate as a show of force. Like they did in Ukraine. And Georgia. And Chechnya. And Finland...

    Also, a little skirmish every now and then keeps the crowd pleased with the administration and makes them forget their petty problems at least for a while, and at least in countries like the US and Soviet Russia. The first time after the World War II United Kingdom was really united was in 1982 when the ships left for the Falklands.

    With this background Finland as a small nonallied country is on the Putin's list of favorite targets.

    We here in Finland are experts on the subject matter as we've lived hundreds of years with this mad dog as our neighbour and we've seen it all already and repeatedly. Thus we have only one enemy which we prepare to fight with quite openly. When I was posted at Naval C&C, during exercises my targets with their known weaknesses for missile fire were real life Russian vessels...

    Russia Isn't interested in invading Finland per se, why on earth would they be, but what they are interested in is the fact, that we hold their Baltic fleet and St Petersburg area hostage with our anti-ship missiles. This has been one of the biggest problems since the first 12" coastal gun batteries were built on the opposite sides of the Gulf of Finland, the others in Finland and the others in Estonia. Yes, there was an area of cross fire in the between and no way to navigate to the Baltic sea and Atlantic ocean without the consent of both countries.

    There are other considerations, like the huge new gas line between Russia and Germany: who ever controls the gulf, controls the gas line.

    There is a relatively high probability of Russian aggression with which they wan't to achieve full control of the Baltic, this includes the invasion of the Swedish island of Gotland and Finnish islands of Åland, and military control of southern Finland by demanding a 500 km deep demilitarized zone or by demanding coastal areas for their own naval base as they did back in 1944 after which they held our capital Helsinki hostage with their guns.

    There is more than meets the eyes when looking from beyond the horizon :)



    The cannons are now decommissioned, but still in perfect working order:
    Nice explanation. Its always good to be prepared, seems like you guys are on par in that department. Do you think you will be able to stand up against full Russian aggression?




    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  8. #18
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    To win a full out shooting war with Russia? No. We'll run out of everything in a week or two, that's a logistical fact. Three weeks max. We can, however make so much resistance that full out war isn't a viable option and our special forces can destroy those "little green men" if they appear on our streets like what happened in Ukraine. Ukrainian huge army exists only on paper, not in practice.

    Be a hard target is the key.

    Other thing is, every man in Finland is by the law a reservist almost all of them trained for combat and 750 000 of them in a country of five million has got guns, so there would be an everlasting guerrilla warfare to cope with. When the coffins start pouring by trainloads back to mother Russia the invasion starts to look like a very bad idea. Just what happened to them in Afghanistan in the 80's.

  9. #19
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    Quote Originally Posted by AK-Gunner View Post
    To win a full out shooting war with Russia? No. We'll run out of everything in a week or two, that's a logistical fact. Three weeks max. We can, however make so much resistance that full out war isn't a viable option and our special forces can destroy those "little green men" if they appear on our streets like what happened in Ukraine. Ukrainian huge army exists only on paper, not in practice.

    Be a hard target is the key.

    Other thing is, every man in Finland is by the law a reservist almost all of them trained for combat and 750 000 of them in a country of five million has got guns, so there would be an everlasting guerrilla warfare to cope with. When the coffins start pouring by trainloads back to mother Russia the invasion starts to look like a very bad idea. Just what happened to them in Afghanistan in the 80's.
    I never knew Finland is such a country, sounds like a nice place to live seeing how your mindset is. You must say if you need some more boots on the ground or snow sweepers, a few unwanted South Africans might get the boot before 2019.


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  10. #20
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    May 2013
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    Los Angeles
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    AK....I'll come train with you......for that matter I'll come help you guys fight the Rooskies if they dare attack. I'm too old for regular army......but I will fit right in with the irregulars. I'll form and head up the FRSU. Finnish Resistance Sniper Unit.

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