Finnish Army Commander attends NATO Land Corps Commanders’ Conference in Türkiye
Finnish Army Commander Lieutenant General Pasi Välimäki attended the Land Corps Commanders’ (LC3) Conference organized by NATO Allied Land Command in Izmir, Türkiye on 9–11 September 2026. Lieutenant General Välimäki participated in the conference in his capacity as Commander of NATO Multi-Corps Land Component Command North West (MCLCC NW).
The conference focused on the operational readiness and combat effectiveness of NATO land forces, as well as cooperation and responding to challenges across the Alliance’s eastern flank. The aim is to further develop the interoperability and ability of NATO land forces to operate together, while taking into account the changes taking place on the modern battlefield.
– Regular LC3 conferences are important opportunities to exchange observations and lessons identified from changes on the battlefield at corps, division and brigade level. At the same time, they help build the foundation for the command and control of NATO land operations, the coordination of fires and the synchronization of activities. On this occasion, we focused particularly on the arrangements and content of an upcoming NATO command exercise, Lieutenant General Välimäki says.
Another key topic at the conference was the Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative (EFDI), which guides the development of new capabilities. EFDI is a NATO initiative aimed particularly at developing land forces and introducing new capabilities and technologies, including artificial intelligence, data processing, drones and counter-drone systems, and electronic warfare capabilities.
– We have been involved in the development work under the EFDI initiative from the outset. Our cooperation with the Armed Forces of Ukraine is also linked to this effort. The capabilities of the Finnish Army are being developed to respond to changes on the battlefield while ensuring interoperability and the ability to operate together with other NATO Allies and meeting NATO’s capability development objectives.
In November, we will conduct the Arctic Strike 26 experimentation exercise in Finland. The exercise will test EFDI-related systems in the demanding conditions of Lapland. It is one phase in the Finnish Army’s broader programme for testing new systems. Our Allies will participate in the evaluation teams, and the results of the system testing will be made available to NATO. In this way, we are developing NATO’s readiness and capability to operate in the demanding conditions of the Nordic region together at the practical level, Lieutenant General Välimäki says.
