Finland aims to become the leading country for drone operations
Finland has launched a national strategy to become a global leader in drone technology and its applications by 2030. The strategy covers both civilian and military uses and aims to strengthen economic growth, defence capability, and national supply security. The strategy is based on insights from experts across industry, government, and academia. It was developed by the working group PIA rf (Defence and Aviation Industry) and was published in February 2025.
Why this matters for Sweden, and any European country
Rasmus Lundqvist, Senior Researcher in Collaborative Autonomous Systems at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, has translated this report into Swedish in order to disseminate the information.
– Why is this strategy important?
“Well, Finland’s drone strategy carries significant implications for both Sweden and the rest of Europe. Firstly, with Sweden and Finland now NATO members, air defence capabilities in the Baltic Sea region are being strengthened — enhancing deterrence against potential threats and improving NATO’s ability to respond swiftly to crises. The strategy addresses innovation in this area.
Secondly, the global drone market is expanding rapidly and is projected to reach €50–250 billion by 2030. This growth presents major business opportunities for Swedish and European companies. At the same time, Finland’s investments in drone research and testing infrastructure can benefit the wider region through knowledge sharing and collaborative innovation.
Furthermore, drone technology is also becoming increasingly vital to critical societal functions, and Finland’s efforts to streamline regulations and align them with EU standards are helping to pave the way for a more unified European drone market.
By learning from Finland’s approach, Sweden and other European nations can position themselves more effectively in this growing industry — strengthening both their defence readiness and innovation capacity.”
Access the full report
Here you can find the complete Finnish drone strategy. Note that the report has been translated into Swedish.
Note! Please note: This is an unofficial translation of the report. The text has been translated paragraph by paragraph using GPT-4o, GPT-o1, and Perplexity Deepseek R-1, and subsequently reviewed and corrected for both language and contextual accuracy. To illustrate the differences between these models, Chapter 2: Development and Establishment of a Competence Base includes excerpts from the models prior to editing.
The original report also contains informative images and illustrations that are not included in this translation. Please refer to the link provided in the attached report to view them.
