PATRIA STRATEGIC DEFENCE PARTNERSHIP CONCEPT
For several decades Finnish defence companies have successfully carried out the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of practically all systems operated by the Finnish Defence Forces. The positive experience from this unique strategic public-private partnership is attracting significant interest from several defence forces around the world.
FROM SCEPTICISM TO AN OVERALL POSITIVE EXPERIENCE
Through a dedicated and focused work, Patria with its ther industrial partners has been able to achieve the highest availability of all NH90 operators in the world»
FULL TRANSPARENCY
The strategic partnership is built on full transparency between the parties, so the customer has insight into the financials of the industry as well as the key indicators of how the industrial partners are performing. There were naturally a lot of issues initially in the work, but improvements did materialize already from the beginning better than forecasted. Today, all indicators are pointing in the right direction and we see significant improvements both in terms of higher availability and lower costs.
As said, in parallel with the Millog activities for the Army and Navy, the Finnish defence company Patria, the majority owner of Millog, has pursued a long strategic partnership with the Finnish Air Force. MRO activities for the F/A-18 Hornets, BAE Systems Hawks and Grob G115s are carried out by Patria, as well as some major modifications of systems such as glass cockpit upgrades and structural service life extensions.
One example of the successful cooperation is the Finnish NH90s, a helicopter system which is causing headaches to many operators. Through a dedicated and focused work, Patria with its other industrial partners has been able to achieve the highest availability of all NH90 operators in the world. That would not have been possible without the open and transparent dialogue, enabled by the strategic partnership.
PREDICTABILITY
Patria, including Millog, co-operates very closely with the Finnish Defence Forces in a variety of tasks, including for example life cycle support services of defence materiel and development of the Finnish Defence Forces crises and war readiness. Industry supplies best practices and know-how without compromising existing security demands, defence regulations, wartime assignments, personnel requirements, etc. Furthermore, industry delivers enhanced availability – at a lower comparative cost than if carried out by the defence forces themselves. Finally, the partnership is giving higher predictability and better forecasting, leading to improved defence planning and budgeting.
It is important to remember that the Finnish strategic partnership is much more than just the outsourcing of MRO activities. The Finnish Defence Forces and Finnish defence companies have established a collaboration under peacetime conditions, preparing them for continued collaboration also under crisis and wartime conditions. The services of the strategic partnership will be carried out regardless of the alert status of the defence forces, a mandatory condition from the Finnish Ministry of Defence to enter into the agreement. The ultimate goal with strategic partnerships is to ensure an operational readiness in the homeland in all situations.
«Finland has decided to take advantage of all capabilities and resources in the country – combining military and civil in relevant areas»
SIGNIFICANT INTEREST IN OUTSOURCING
The Finnish strategic partnership is clearly a win-win for the Finnish Ministry of Defence, Finnish Defence Forces and the Finnish industry. Ministry of Defence expresses its vision of industrial collaboration in Defence and security industrial strategy in the following words:
“The Defence Forces and industry must commit to shared long-term planning in order to improve industrial capacities. Instead of concentrating on production figures, they must strive for competence-based industrial expertise.”
Based on the experience from the decades of cooperation with the Finnish Defence Forces, Patria has derived the “Patria Strategic Partnership Concept” – a concept proven to enable a trusted and close co-operation between industry and defence in peace, crisis and ultimately also in wartime. Patria is currently pursuing talks with several defence forces in Europe and the Norwegian example of Kongsberg Aviation Maintenance Services (KAMS) development is a good example of this adaptation of the concept. Patria owns 49.9% of KAMS. We believe there is currently a significant interest in outsourcing and strategic partnerships because many countries are struggling with accelerating MRO costs, despite numerous re-organizations and efficiency improvement programs. At the same time the availability of their military assets is far from the anticipated figures. They realize that they need to do things differently and to think in new ways. The Finnish example of a strategic partnership provides solutions to many of those issues the decision-makers are facing.
Once entered, a strategic partnership based on Patria’s Strategic Partnership Concept is easily adjustable to changing the needs of the defence forces in question (time, targets, priorities, budget restraints, etc.) – without formal re-negotiation of the partnership itself and to predicted cost, time and effect.
