IN Brief:
- RMC launched the third Pohjanmaa-class corvette at Rauma on 29 October.
- The first two vessels remain in outfitting, while construction of the fourth is progressing after its August keel laying.
- The four-ship programme supports more than 3,600 person-years of employment and strengthens Finland's naval manufacturing capacity.
Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) has launched the third Pohjanmaa-class multipurpose corvette for the Finnish Navy, advancing the Squadron 2020 programme with three of its four planned warships now afloat at the company’s Rauma shipyard.
The launch took place on 29 October, following completion of the third vessel’s principal hull structure in August. The ship will undergo further outfitting alongside the first two corvettes, while construction continues on the fourth vessel following its keel laying earlier this year.
All four ships are progressing through different stages of construction, allowing RMC to apply manufacturing experience gained from earlier vessels to subsequent work. The company has identified improvements in production efficiency and shipbuilding capability as the programme advances through series construction.
The first Pohjanmaa-class corvette was launched in May 2025 and the second in May 2026. Their construction established methods for fabricating the hulls, installing equipment, and coordinating the extensive engineering work associated with the Finnish Navy’s new maritime platforms.
Each successive vessel uses a common design, creating opportunities to improve the organisation of repeated manufacturing activities. RMC can refine fabrication sequences, equipment installation procedures, and work allocation using experience accumulated during construction of the preceding ships.
Completing the third hull enabled the vessel to proceed towards launching, but substantial engineering work remains before it can begin sea trials. Outfitting involves the installation and completion of machinery, electrical systems, pipework, communications equipment, and other systems required for the ship to operate.
Structural fabrication and outfitting are closely connected because the arrangement of internal spaces determines the access available for equipment installation. Larger machinery and assemblies may need to be positioned during earlier construction stages, while smaller equipment and connections can be installed as the vessel approaches completion.
Shipboard electrical systems introduce extensive coordination requirements. Power distribution equipment must supply propulsion-related machinery, navigation systems, accommodation, sensors, and other users, with cables routed through the hull and connected to equipment installed in different compartments.
Piping and ventilation systems occupy many of the same spaces. Their installation must accommodate maintenance access, the vessel’s structural arrangements, and the requirements imposed by machinery and electronic equipment, making the sequence of engineering work an important part of production planning.
The Pohjanmaa class is designed for year-round operations in the demanding Baltic Sea environment. Its hull and supporting systems must accommodate winter conditions alongside the requirements of a multipurpose naval vessel operating in coastal and open-water areas.
Each corvette is approximately 117m long, with a beam of 16.5m, a draught of five metres, and a planned crew of about 70. The ships are being developed to provide maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, minelaying, and protection of sea routes.
These roles place different demands on the ship’s equipment. Maritime surveillance depends on the collection and processing of information from sensors, while underwater warfare involves acoustic sensing and the integration of equipment designed to detect and assess objects beneath the surface.
Mine warfare requires another set of capabilities, including equipment and operating arrangements appropriate to the deployment of naval mines. The ship’s multipurpose configuration must therefore accommodate several mission systems within a platform also designed for difficult environmental conditions.
Saab is supplying the vessels’ combat systems, creating a separate integration programme alongside the shipyard’s structural and mechanical work. Combat equipment must exchange information with the ship’s sensors, communications systems, and operator interfaces while remaining compatible with the wider platform architecture.
The relationship between the combat system supplier and the shipbuilder affects equipment installation, electrical connections, cooling arrangements, and testing. Systems delivered by specialist manufacturers must fit the spaces and interfaces established during the vessel’s design and construction.
The Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command is the programme customer, with the Navy responsible for the operational capability the completed ships must provide. These organisations work with RMC and Saab to coordinate the shipbuilding and equipment integration requirements.
That cooperation has supported improvements during production. RMC chief executive Mika Nieminen has identified the application of experience from earlier vessels as a factor in the development of more efficient construction methods and stronger domestic naval engineering capabilities.
Simultaneous construction creates opportunities to use specialist facilities and labour across several ships, although it also requires careful planning. A delay affecting common equipment or a shared supplier can influence more than one vessel when different hulls are progressing through related activities.
Engineering changes must be managed across the series for the same reason. A modification introduced on an earlier ship may need to be incorporated into later vessels at a different stage of construction, with the required documentation, components, and installation work coordinated across the programme.
RMC and its partners have developed the manufacturing capability needed to undertake these activities in Finland. The Squadron 2020 programme has a direct domestic employment impact exceeding 3,600 person-years, supporting shipbuilding, engineering, equipment integration, and specialist supply businesses.
The work also contributes to Finland’s industrial capacity for complex naval construction. Maintaining skills in hull fabrication, ship systems engineering, and military equipment integration provides capabilities relevant to future vessel construction and support requirements.
RMC’s wider shipbuilding workload includes icebreakers ordered for the United States Coast Guard. The overlap with the corvette programme places additional demands on the yard and its subcontractors while allowing experience with vessels intended for northern operating conditions to be applied across different projects.
The icebreakers and corvettes have distinct equipment and operational requirements, but both depend on specialist maritime engineering, production planning, and an industrial workforce capable of constructing vessels for demanding environments.
The Finnish Navy expects the four Pohjanmaa-class ships to be completed by the end of the decade, with commissioning progressing in phases. The latest launch places the third vessel into the outfitting stage while RMC continues construction of the final hull.
Further equipment installation, integration testing, and sea trials will determine the progression of each ship towards delivery and acceptance. The programme’s manufacturing work now extends across three launched vessels and a fourth under construction, with the remaining stages focused on converting completed hulls into operational naval platforms.
