Finland's world-leading defence tech could soon come to Australia, trade minister says

The company that provides much of Australia's satellite surveillance for real-time disaster management may also soon be sharing its defence technology, as Finland becomes the latest European country to seek closer ties on security.

The Finnish company ICEYE, which boasts its dominance as an operator of the world's largest constellation of small Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites, was chosen by the Australian government in 2023 to provide real-time support for disaster management, particularly for floods and bushfires.

ICEYE flood products have been used by more than 75 organisations across Australia, including in response to ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which swept across two states in 2025.

Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio, who last week visited Australia and New Zealand with a delegation of Finnish companies, offered ICEYE satellite defence capabilities as an example of the greater trade and defence cooperation between Finland and Australia that he is seeking to promote in the wake of the signing of the EU–Australia free trade agreement.

Mr Tavio said research and cooperation between the two countries would mean "faster development of technologies".

"I think our defence cooperation will be very technological in nature," Mr Tavio said.

He said the relationships Australia and Finland had already formed in the mining and quantum sectors also could advance further.

"In satellites, the Finnish company ICEYE is a good example. It provides the highest quality of data for the military as well as commercial applications," he said.

"And that's something that Australia might be interested in."

The international company, known for its SAR satellites, essentially provides its clients with advanced satellite monitoring capabilities for use in environmental and defence situations.

It already has commercial ties in Australia, providing satellite-derived hazard intelligence to the banking and utilities sectors.

ICEYE said it saw "clear alignment" between its technology and Australia's defence strategies.

"We are actively exploring opportunities to work with Australian partners to support both sovereign capability and broader use of space‑based intelligence," a spokesperson for ICEYE said in a statement.

Seeking stronger international ties in wake of wars

Mr Tavio spoke to ABC News while on the Australian leg of a trade mission, during which he also met with cabinet members, including Trade Minister Don Farrell and Industry Minister Tim Ayres.

Australia and Finland's trade relationship to date has focused on resources and telecommunications and, more recently, quantum technologies.

Along with a number of Baltic countries, Finland is a world leader and expanding manufacturer of high-tech defence technologies, including armoured vehicles, mortar systems, and cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems.

The development has perhaps been spurred on by the fact that Finland shares a long land border with Russia. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 prompted Finland to drop decades of staunch non-alignment, dating back to the Cold War, and join NATO.

Finland has also been a major provider of assistance to Ukraine.

"We support the sovereignty of a sovereign country," Mr Tavio said.

The Ukraine–Russia war's impact

While there has been increasing anxiety in Western Europe about Russian attacks beyond Ukraine, particularly after drones linked to Russia were seen over several European airports, Mr Tavio said he saw no direct threat to Finland at present.

"Finland and the Nordics are pretty well prepared," he said.

"Finland never stopped its preparedness for defence. We always had a strong defence since our experiences in World War II."

However, he said: "The situation in Finland is stable and [we] don't see a direct threat from Russia."

The Finnish minister also said Russia's transformation into a war economy would be to its longer-term detriment because, apart from the war's human cost, it had become isolated from the technological transformation occurring elsewhere in the world.

"For Russia, it's a big, big economic issue to turn your country into one working on war economics," he said.

"In terms of research and development, it's damaging them quite a bit by isolating themselves from … the West."

Mr Tavio endorsed the push for NATO countries to boost their spending to 5 per cent of GDP and said it had been "a good thing" that the United States had pushed Europe to spend more on defence.

"But of course, the style with which the Trump administration is doing that often can be found to be rather offensive," he said.

Despite the tariffs imposed on the EU, and therefore on Finland, by the US in the wake of US President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day", Mr Tavio said Finland's trade with America had remained "pretty stable".

"The USA has remained one of our top trading partners. It is the most important trading top partner outside the EU," he said.

"Simultaneously, there's no reason for companies not to diversify. And Australia is a very important trading partner for us to [do so] bilaterally, and it's the fifth-largest trade partner outside of Europe."

Mr Tavio said the wars in Ukraine and Iran both led to the same conclusion: "That geopolitics has been changing in a way that we should find the most like-minded countries and work together more."