When a NATO ally’s rocket system breaks down, repairs have often meant sending equipment thousands of kilometers across the Atlantic to the US. Finland is now preparing to bring that capability much closer to home.
The Nordic country is preparing to open Europe's first dedicated maintenance hub for the digital fire-control systems used in HIMARS and M270 multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), a move officials say will shorten repair times, strengthen NATO's northern defenses and bolster Europe's defense-industrial base.
HIMARS is a truck-mounted launcher, while the M270 is a larger tracked system. Both are widely used by NATO allies for long-range precision strikes. The center will service the digital fire-control system that enables the launchers to calculate targets, aim and fire.
It follows an agreement signed in June between the Finnish Defence Forces, Finnish technology company Insta and US defense giant Lockheed Martin as part of Finland's industrial cooperation linked to its purchase of F-35 fighter jets.
The project has also fueled a broader debate over Europe's defense future. While it expands maintenance capabilities on the continent, it also raises questions about whether deeper industrial cooperation with US defense firms ultimately reinforces Europe's reliance on American military technology.
Juha-Pekka Keranen, a retired Major General who commanded the Finnish Air Force and led the HX Programme that secured Finland's F-35 fighter jet purchase in 2021, told Anadolu the facility's biggest advantage is speed.
Conducting maintenance in Finland means "the period is much shorter because you don't have to ship equipment overseas and take them back," he told Anadolu.
Until now, major maintenance on the fire-control systems used in HIMARS and M270 launchers often required sending equipment to facilities outside Europe – akin to owning a car whose only authorized repair center is on another continent. The process could take weeks in peacetime and considerably longer if conflict disrupted shipping routes.
Keranen said the benefit would be clearest in crisis situations, when overseas repair becomes unreliable and "you have to have ... know-how capabilities."
The center is expected to serve allies beyond Finland.
"The idea is that they can also maintain more broadly," he said, referring to the center. “Not only our Finnish systems, but also the whole European NATO allies' systems who are using HIMARS or M270s like we do in Finland.”
Beyond improving NATO’s military readiness, the project is also expected to strengthen Finland's growing defense industry.
Finnish Member of the European Parliament Mika Aaltola, who formerly directed the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), told Anadolu rising defense spending is already boosting the Finnish economy, citing Bank of Finland estimates that it could add about 1% to annual GDP.
At the same time, he argued Europe must move faster to strengthen key defense sectors.
He said Finland needs to "build up and be fast," particularly in "key components where we are lacking behind, like drone systems, missile systems," where he argued Russia and its partners currently retain an advantage.
The maintenance center will be based at Insta's facilities in Tampere, one of Finland's main defense industry hubs and home to the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command Headquarters.
Keranen said the region already possesses the technical expertise needed for the project, with local engineers having built decades of experience maintaining Finland's F/A-18 fleet.
That record, he said, helped convince US authorities of Finland's ability to undertake advanced maintenance work.
Its location also offers strategic advantages.
Situated well inland from Finland's eastern border, Tampere occupies what Aaltola describes as a strategic middle ground – far enough to be "defended more easily than other locations in Finland," yet close enough that "a fighter plane from Tampere or missile from Tampere can reach a Baltic Sea in a matter of minutes."
Whether the project makes Europe more self-reliant or more dependent on US technology remains open to debate.
Finland chose to purchase Lockheed Martin's F-35s over European rivals in December 2021, committing to 64 jets, and the Tampere center is a direct spinoff of that deal's industrial offset package.
Keranen rejected the idea that it deepens dependence on Washington, noting Finland has flown US-made F-18s for nearly three decades.
"I would say we've been happy to cooperate with the United States,” he said. “That's good for our cooperation.”
He said Finland's choice ultimately came down to performance following a lengthy technical evaluation.
Aaltola, however, was more critical.
"American weapons come with a price," he said. "They have a tendency to think they have a say in how to use the weapons – in the Ukrainian case, you saw that very clearly."
Instead, he argued Europe should invest more heavily in its own defense industry, particularly Nordic manufacturers, while developing lower-cost alternatives suited to "deterrence" rather than projecting military power abroad.
"We shouldn't lock ourselves into American, very expensive, very high-tech weapon systems,” he said. “The closer to home, the more European our defense industry is, the better off we are.”
Even so, Aaltola described the Tampere project as a "reassuring" development at a time when Europe's security environment and transatlantic relationship are becoming increasingly uncertain.
Finland joined NATO in 2023 and has since rapidly expanded defense spending, committing to the alliance's new target of investing 5% of GDP in defense by 2035.
Some in its own defense establishment argue that's still not enough. A parliamentary working group warned in a report to Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen on June 2, 2026, that spending may need to nearly double by 2029 to keep pace with the Russian threat.
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