TendarMar 17

Number of dedicated mine hunters / minesweepers in navies belonging to NATO:

Europe: +150 vessels
USA: 4-8 vessels
Canada: 9-12 vessels

Show threadAho

@Tendar #Finland said it will not send it's minesweepers, they are made specificity for the Baltic Sea

Source: https://yle.fi/a/74-20215117

Asiantuntija: Yhdysvallat saattaa joutua maaoperaatioon Hormuzinsalmella – pelkkä ilmaoperaatio ei riitä

Suomen kolme miinanraivaajaa on rakennettu Suomen olosuhteisiin, eikä niitä voida lähettää Itämeren ulkopuolelle, sanoo Merivoimien tiedotusjohtaja.

Yle Uutiset
Mar 17 at 9:10amWeb
Show threadAlex o_OMar 17
@aho @Tendar what customisations would make the ship unable to function in other waters?
Show threadAhoMar 17

@o_O @Tendar Much of the waters around Finland is shallow and can be quite rocky, so you want a boat that don't go too deep to be able to navigate, they are too small for open sea. They are 16 m long, 4 m wide, 1.3 meter water depth, 4 men crew.

I guess you would sail with this one from Finland to Iran?

Show threadAhoMar 17
@o_O @Tendar sure there is the Katanpää class minesweepers with a maximum range of 2700 km while Hormuz is kind of 15000 km away
Show threadFrank Endrullat 🌻Mar 17
@o_O @aho @Tendar The Baltic Sea is effectively an inland sea, so wave heights will not be the same in general as what could be encountered in the Gulf, which is open to the Indian Ocean. That’s an important factor in where your ships can operate. Secondly, and probably more important in this case, is that Finish mine sweepers would have to get to the Gulf via the Baltic Sea, North Sea, Mediterranean, Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Being exposed to environments they’re not designed to operate in.
Show threadAhoMar 17
@FrankEndrullat @o_O @Tendar also most of the Finnish minesweepers are meant for "over the day" operations, so that the crew will get to port at least once a day, rest on land and then go out again, the smaller ones don't have any sleeping quarters. I almost can fit one on my balcony.
Show threadFrank Endrullat 🌻Mar 17
@aho @o_O @Tendar Something I had no idea about! But it absolutely makes sense if you think about the Finnish needs. Learned something new today! 🥳
Show threadAhoMar 17
@FrankEndrullat @o_O @Tendar the oldest ones were from the mid 80's, don't even Finland thought they would do any international sea operations far from their own shores, maybe the next generation, but I doubt there is a plan for that yet as the newest ones are just ~10 years old and the F-35 cost quite a lot of money for a small country and investment in new artillery and rocket systems been prioritized. I just hope they will not have use of them...