[Llarry]

In celebration of Finland's joining NATO today, allow me to briefly introduce The Finnish Navy.

Geographic considerations mean that the Navy primarily operates in the South. The Navy is pretty small, with the emphasis on fast attack craft and mine warfare -- perfect given the location in the Baltic Sea.

The largest vessels in the Navy are minelayers, although these are also armed with guns and vertical-launch air defense missiles.

With minelayers also come minesweepers and the Navy has several.

Rounding out the inventory are a number of fast attack craft armed with guns and Israeli Gabriel Mk 5 antiship missiles.

All in all, Finland's Navy can be summed up as small but well-suited for Finland's position in the far North of the NATO alliance.

I've not included photos; all the photos I can find are pre-modernization and the ships' appearance has changed.