FORCIT Defence (Oy Forcit Ab)

History

FORCIT Defence is the defence unit of the Finnish FORCIT Group (Oy Forcit Ab), which traces its origins to 1893 in Hanko and has more than 130 years of experience with explosives for the civilian and defence sectors. In Finland the group is organised in three units – FORCIT Defence, FORCIT Explosives and FORCIT Consulting – and it also operates in Sweden and Norway. FORCIT Defence develops and produces systems based on insensitive munitions – as prime contractor for its own systems and as a partner to international manufacturers.

Ownership and figures

The group CEO is Joakim Westerlund, and the executive vice president of FORCIT Defence is Alex Lagerstedt. According to the company, in its last financial year turnover was about €500 million and profit €125 million, and the group employs more than 800 people. It has announced an investment programme of more than €350 million in the coming years.

The BLOCKER naval mine

BLOCKER is a seabed influence mine system that combines modern sensors, insensitive munitions and long-term lifecycle support. The mine is at the centre of the Finnish-led Naval Mines Cooperation project: after a 2024 letter of intent, a framework agreement was signed with ten countries – Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Finland and Estonia. On 6 July 2026 the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command and FORCIT signed the main contract to deliver BLOCKER to the first participants – Finland, Germany, Denmark, Lithuania and Norway – worth hundreds of millions of euros. Estonia is buying BLOCKER under a separate contract, and Denmark’s Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (FMI) has signed an agreement to acquire the system.

New capacity

• TNT plant in Pori – in January 2025 FORCIT announced an investment of more than €200 million in Northern Europe’s first TNT plant, at Noormarkku near Pori, through its subsidiary Forcit Pori Oy. On 3 September 2025 the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command signed a contract with the company worth €189 million excluding VAT for TNT deliveries in 2028–2037. The project has received about €50 million of international funding, including a €30 million grant from the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP).
• Expansion in Hanko – in December 2025 the company announced an investment of about €70 million, mainly at the Hanko plant, to expand and automate FORCIT Defence production; the effects will come on stream in stages during 2027.
• Electronics plant in Salo – in June 2026 construction began on a plant of about €10 million for high-tech defence components, without explosives; it is to be fully operational by 2029 and employ up to 200 people.

Products

FORCIT Defence produces anti-access and area-denial systems for land and sea, including naval mines, as well as explosives for the defence industry, among them plastic-bonded insensitive explosives.