Helsinki Air Defence Regiment (''Helsingin Ilmatorjuntarykmentti'', ''HelItR'') is a part of the

Armoured Brigade The Armoured Brigade ( fi, Panssariprikaati) is a Finnish Army training unit located in Parolannummi, near Hämeenlinna, in southern Finland. The brigade specialises in training tank, armoured and anti-aircraft troops. In case of mobilization, the ...

in Parola. The regiment was previously an independent

Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraf ...

unit located in

Hyrylä Hyrylä ( sv, Skavaböle, also ) is one of the three villages and the administrative centre of Tuusula, with a population of about 19,500 residents.http://www.tuusula.fi/teksti.tmpl?id=751;numero=101253120 Tuusula.fi information It is located ...

(in

Tuusula Tuusula (; sv, Tusby ) is a municipality of Finland. It belongs to the Helsinki sub-region of the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of () and is by far the third largest municipality in Finland after Nurmijärvi and Kirkkonummi ...

municipality, some 30 km from

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

). The

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

trained 800

conscripts Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

per year. In 2005 the

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Seppo Kääriäinen Seppo Arimo Kääriäinen (born 29 March 1948 in Iisalmen maalaiskunta) is a Finnish politician of the Centre Party and Doctor in Social Sciences. He served as the Minister of Defence of Finland between from 24 June 2003 to 19 April 2007. He ...

announced that the garrison in Hyrylä would be closed as part of a major structural change of the

Finnish Defence Forces The Finnish Defence Forces ( fi, Puolustusvoimat, sv, Försvarsmakten) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime the Finnish Border Guard (whic ...

. This took place on January 1, 2007. The operations of the regiment moved to

Parola Parola is an urban area in the municipality of Hattula in Finland. It is located 110 kilometres north of Helsinki. Cities nearby include Hämeenlinna, Tampere, Lahti and Forssa Forssa is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located al ...

. Closing of the garrison will save the Defence Forces about 5 million

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

per year.

Organisation

The last organization of the Regiment was * Armoured Anti-Aircraft Battery (''Panssari-ilmatorjuntapatteri'') * 1st & 2nd Anti-Aircraft Missile Batteries (''1. & 2. Ohjusilmatorjuntapatteri'') * Command Post Battery (''Johtokeskuspatteri'') * NCO School (''Aliupseerikoulu'')

Equipment

* ItO 86 ( M Igla) * ItO 96 ( Buk-M1) * ItO 05 ( ASRAD-R on Unimog 5000) * ItO 90 M ( CrotaleNG MOD on Sisu XA-181) * ItO 12 ( NASAMS II FIN, AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles) * ItO 15 ( FIM-92J Stinger RMP Block I) * 35 ItK 88 (35 mm Oerlikon gun) * 23 Itk 61 (

ZU-23-2 The ZU-23-2, also known as ZU-23, is a Soviet towed 23×152mm anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannon. ZU stands for ''Zenitnaya Ustanovka'' (Russian: Зенитная Установка) – anti-aircraft mount. The GRAU index is 2A13. Developm ...

) * 23 Itk 95 (modernised version of ZU-23-2) * 12.7 Itkk ( NSV-12.7)

References

Artillery units and formations of Finland Air defence units and formations Army regiments of Finland {{Finland-mil-stub