Kainuu Brigade will lead several exercises in Kainuu during May. The exercises will be executed primarily in Vuosanka and its immediate surroundings.
The exercises will enhance the Army’s defence capability in the Kainuu region, skills of conscripts and reservists as well as interoperability with Allies. The most important exercise will be a multinational Saber Strike 26, starting on 11 May with units from several countries for the first time in Kainuu.
Northern Strike 126
Kainuu Artillery Regiment’s field training and live-fire exercise Northern Strike 126 will be organised in the Vuosanka firing range and training area on 2-12 May 2026.
The exercise will include artillery and mortar firings and tactical live-fire exercises. The specific purpose is to practice branch skills on the level of sections, platoons and individuals.
The following types of training will be executed: fires of Artillery battalion and mortar units, direct fire of a firing battery, use of defensive and offensive indirect fire as well as tactical live-firing.
Apart from Kainuu Brigade, the exercise will have participants from the Lapland, North Karelia and Kainuu Border Guard Districts, Defence Forces C5 Agency, Army Academy, Armoured Brigade, Joint Systems Centre, Millog Oy, Logistics Command, Karelia Air Wing and Army Command. The total strength of the units will be approximately 640.
The units will move from Kajaani to Vuosanka on 2 May 2026 and back to Kajaani on 12 May 2026.
Combat exercise Metso 126
Combat exercise Metso 126, led by Kainuu Jaeger Battalion, will be executed in an area south and south-east of Kainuu Brigade on 11-15 May 2026.
The purpose of the exercise is to practice delaying, defensive and offensive operation in combat. Joint operation between different branches and levels of command will also be trained in the exercise. Testing raising readiness will also be on the exercise agenda, as well as rapid execution of the commands’ and units’ tasks. The exercise prepares for exercise Northern Star 26, which will be the final field training exercise of the contingent mustering out in June. Northern Star 26 will be organised in Vuosanka in May.
Metso 125 will have participants from all Kainuu Brigage battalions, and the North Karelia Border Guard District. There will also be infantry units from the United Kingdom. The overall strength of the units in the exercise will be around 1,500.
The training units will be moving around the following area: Hoikankangas (the garrison and the training area nearby) – Karankalahti – Kontinjärvi – Parkua – Losonvaara – Kuusimäki – Lehtovaara – Kivijärvi – Syvänkangas.
They will be using blanks and small drones. Live ammunition will not be used. Some roads in the training area may be temporarily closed to traffic or traffic may be guided to alternative routes during the exercise.
Saber Strike 26
Kainuu Brigade will lead a multinational exercise Saber Strike 26 in the Kainuu region on 11-30 May 2026. The exercise will be executed in two phases. In the first phase, Rock Sisu, Allies will train, for the first time, operation in Kainuu, the Vuosanka training area, without the presence of Finnish units. Allied troops will come from the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Hungary and Poland.
In the second phase of Northern Star 26, the Allied troops will train together with Finnish units in the Vuosanka training area and its surroundings. This phase will also constitute the final field training exercise for the contingent mustering out in June.
The objective of the exercise is to maintain and improve military interoperability and capability together with our Allies.
Apart from Kainuu Brigade, the Finnish participants of the exercise will include personnel from the Army Command, Jaeger Brigade, National Defence University, Air Force, Defence Forces C5 Agency, 3rd Logistics Regiment, Centre for Military Medicine, Border Guard and Leijona Catering.
Allied troops and personnel will come from the United States, United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, Hungary and France. The overall strength of the units in the exercise is approximately 4500.
Flight operations and military vehicles
As part of the exercises there will be flight operations with helicopters in the Kainuu region, especially between Paltaniemi and Vuosanka, on 10-30 May, and the Air Force’s support flights on 26-27 May 2026. Military vehicles will be using the roads between Kajaani and Vuosanka frequently during May.
The public is welcome to the open event organized at the Kajaani airport in Paltaniemi on 18 May 2026 at 15-18. The event offers an opportunity to ask questions about the exercise and see equipment used in it.
Should citizens wish to contact the Defence Forces during the exercise, they can use the phone number +358 (0)299 451 975. Any terrain or soil damage detected in the region should be reported by email to hos.kaipre(at)mil.fi.
The public can follow the exercises on Kainuu Brigade's (KainuunPR) and the Army’s (Maavoimat) social media (Facebook, X and Instagram).
