Technological upheaval, threat scenarios in the military operational environment and recent war experiences have created a need to develop and coordinate the Defence Forces' innovation activities. This need has been addressed by gradually starting a coordinated Defence Forces innovation service from the beginning of 2026. The Defence Forces innovation unit will be established under the Finnish Defence Intelligence Agency as part of the innovation activities.
The main task of the innovation activities is to identify and gather the Finnish Defence Forces' internal needs and challenges, which can be addressed quickly through innovations. The innovation activities enable new or modified products and working methods to be rapidly implemented to strengthen the defence system. The current processes for long-term planning and development of capabilities are often lengthy and carefully structured. The need for these current processes will continue in the future, but the innovation activities complement them with the aim of identifying, evaluating, developing, building, and implementing innovations to meet both identified and unidentified capability needs.
The main task of the innovation activities is to identify and gather the Finnish Defence Forces' internal needs and challenges, which can be addressed quickly through innovations. The innovation activities enable new or modified products and working methods to be rapidly implemented to strengthen the defence system. The current processes for long-term planning and development of capabilities are often lengthy and carefully structured. The need for these current processes will continue in the future, but the innovation activities complement them with the aim of identifying, evaluating, developing, building, and implementing innovations to meet both identified and unidentified capability needs.
The Innovation Unit – a practical actor that connects innovation players
To achieve the objectives of innovation activities, a defence-oriented innovation unit will be established under the Finnish Defence Intelligence Agency, which is expected to reach full operational capacity by 2026. The unit will act as a coordinator for the overall innovation effort and as a point of contact for both the Finnish Defence Forces and for national and international stakeholders and networks. The establishment of the innovation unit does not limit or exclude existing projects, programmes, or innovation activities, but complements them and supports current operations.
The Defence Forces' innovation unit is a practical actor that combines research, development and key players in performance building. The unit's role is to create networks that support smooth innovation activities to the benefit of both the Defence Forces and the national industry. The unit also supports the national industry in the implementation of innovations. To further develop promising innovations, the innovation unit can support the supplier either with its own resources or help network with other actors.
The Defence Forces' initiative for innovation activities brings actors from the Defence Forces as well as companies, universities, colleges, research institutes and ecosystems closer together – without forgetting citizens and the reserve. As part of this, the Defence Forces is developing the ability to communicate more openly about the Defence Forces' needs and challenges to actors outside the Defence Forces to guide innovation activities and develop solutions.
Artificial intelligence competence centre in collaboration with the innovation unit
The Finnish Defence Forces' Competence Centre for Artificial Intelligence also began its operations at the beginning of 2026. The use of artificial intelligence opens up new opportunities to streamline operations and develop capabilities. The Competence Centre for Artificial Intelligence plays a central role in this work.
The AI Competence Centre collaborates with the Defence Forces' innovation unit. The operations are based on the Defence Forces' data and AI strategy and support the implementation of the data programme. The data programme is a programme that supports the development of cross-cutting expertise.
The personnel is gradually increasing. The competence centre is geographically distributed across Finland. During the establishment phase, the operational core has started at the C5 School in Riihimäki.
