Finnish Fighter Jets - A technician stands in front of a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet, HN-423 of the Finnish Air Force, in Oulu, Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland, August 9, 2014. (Shutterstock Photo)

Finland plans to add new fighter jets to its military after spending 10 billion euros ($12 billion) to replace its aging fleet of F-18 Hornets. The Scandinavian country said on Thursday it had received final bids from all five manufacturers bidding for the contract.

Finnish Fighter Jets

Finnish Fighter Jets

Finland's defense forces have said they will carefully evaluate quotes received from the British, French, Swedish and US governments this fall.

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The Finnish government, led by Prime Minister Sanna Marin, will then choose a winner by the end of 2021, probably in December.

The fighter models at issue in the agreement are the American Boeing F-18 Super Hornet and the Lockheed Martin F-35A, the French Dassault Rafale, the British Eurofighter Typhoon and the Swedish Saab Gripen.

Boeing said in a separate statement that its offer included a Finnish option to buy a combination of the F-18 Super Hornet and its electronic warfare variant, the EA-18G Growler.

EU member Finland is a country that is not in a military alliance but works closely with NATO - a similar situation to neighboring Sweden. The Finnish Air Force has a fleet of more than 60 F-18s and in 2014 began a process to find a successor to the fighters purchased in the early 1990s.

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The military did not release any details Thursday about the final bid, which has a deadline of Friday, or how many aircraft each manufacturer will supply, but the number is generally expected. It varies between 60-64.

It said the winner would be selected based on four considerations: the multirole fighter's military capabilities, security of supplies, proposed industrial cooperation with Finland and cost.

"Security and defense policy implications will be assessed separately outside the actual tender process," the Finnish Defense Forces said in a statement.

Finnish Fighter Jets

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You can unfollow at any time. By registering you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. This website is protected by reCAPTCHA and Google's privacy policy and terms of service apply. A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft is seen at the ILA Air Show in Berlin, Germany on April 25, 2018. / Axel Schmidt

HELSINKI/WASHINGTON, Dec 10 () - Finland has selected F-35 fighter jets from U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin ( LMT.N ) to replace its F/A-18 fighter jets. obsolete and plans to order 64 aircraft with weapons systems. in a $9.4 billion deal, the government said Friday.

Lockheed Martin faced competition from Sweden's Saab ( SAABb.ST ), U.S. rival Boeing ( BA.N ), France's Dassault and Britain's BAE Systems ( BAES.L ).

The government said the Lockheed purchase, which includes weapons as well as service and maintenance until 2030, is valued at 8.378 billion euros ($9.44 billion).

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An additional 777 million euros will be added to the construction of the hangar and other equipment, while 824 million euros will be allocated to the final optimized weapons package and to control future contract modifications.

"When we compare military performance, the F-35 best meets our needs," Defense Minister Antti Kaikonen said at a press conference.

Military aircraft manufacturers have been competing for the deal since late 2015, when Finland's defense ministry began looking for a new plane to replace the aging Finnish Hornet fighter jet, which was bought in 1992 from McDonnell Douglas, now part of Boeing.

Finnish Fighter Jets

Finland is the 14th country to choose the F-35. Air Force Commander Pasi Jokinen said installation on the F-35 will begin in 2027.

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The choice strengthens the small Nordic country's defense cooperation with its allies, particularly the United States and Norway, said Charlie Salonius-Pasternak, a researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

"Finland and Norway are training together in the North, so it will be a political decision to determine what intelligence to share and when," he said, referring to the possibility of the Jet aircraft sharing data in real time.

Unlike Norway, Finland is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), but it has established close ties with the organization in recent years and has adopted military equipment compatible with NATO members.

In 2014, Finland and Sweden, also not members of NATO, signed an agreement on joint exercises and would allow NATO to provide assistance in crisis situations.

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"The F-35 will provide Finnish industry with unique digital capabilities that improve engineering and manufacturing," said Bridget Lauderdale, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's F-35 program. 5th generation.

"Production will continue for more than 20 years, and the maintenance of the F-35 will continue into the 2070s," Lauderdale said in a statement.

Rival plane makers expressed frustration with Finland's decision, with Saab CEO Mikael Johansson saying he was a little surprised the F-35 didn't fit the budget.

Finnish Fighter Jets

Boeing said it continues to see significant international interest in the F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler.

Finnish Air Force Boeing F 18 Hornet Fighter Jet Aircraft Editorial Photography

Sweden, Finland's neighbor and home of producer Gripen Saab, said it regretted the result but also respected the decision.

"Our excellent defense cooperation will of course continue. Finland will continue to be our closest security and defense policy partner," the Swedish Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

Reporting by Essie Leto in Helsinki, Mike Stone in Washington, D.C. Additional reporting by Johan Ahlander and Helena Soderpalm in Stockholm Editing by Tim Heffer, Terje Solsvik, David Goodman, Susan Fenton and Raisa Kasolovski The bottom line: Finland is looking for a new fighter and is doing research with the US. This meant that he had to land a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier for the first time.

On March 17, 2017, a fighter jet landed on the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Atlantic Ocean. The only difference this time is that the pilot is Finnish and not American.

Patria And The Finnish Air Force

According to the US Navy, Captain Juha "Stallion" Jarvinen's landing was the first in history by a Finnish Air Force pilot to land on an aircraft carrier. Jarvinen is flying a US Marine Corps F/A-18C Hornet with the 101st Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron as part of a pilot exchange program, also the first between the US Marine Corps and the Finnish Air Force.

"It was pretty intense," Jarvinen said, according to a US Navy press release. "I was very happy to know that I actually caught the rope when it looked like a quick deceleration, but at the same time a bit disappointed that I got second and not third."

Nimitz-class carriers - with two exceptions, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush - has four brake lines or cables. Taking the third cable is the safest, but taking the second one is not bad either.

Finnish Fighter Jets

The landing was interesting because Finland, like neighboring Sweden, is officially neutral and not part of NATO, and the country has walked a fine line between East and West for much of the post-war period. That's still true, for the most part.

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"For now, if Finland and Sweden create this demilitarized zone, I think it will increase security and stability in the Baltic Sea region... I see no reason to change that." . In December 2017.

However, in recent years, the Finnish military has been participating in more joint military exercises with NATO countries - an example of this is the first pilot exchange program with the US Marines. Finland plans to conduct large-scale joint exercises on Finnish territory with Sweden and the United States in early 2020.

The model is Exercise Aurora 17 in September 2017 - one of Sweden's largest military exercises in decades and involving troops from 10 countries, including the United States and Finland. These measures include NATO exercises in the Baltic states and a new rotation of US Marines in Norway and the Swedish military base in Gotland.

"The need for such exercises in Finland is obvious, especially when we consider that the new law that came into force last summer on the obligation of the Finnish Defense Forces to receive and provide international assistance. Finland should have the opportunity to take advantage of this international assistance," said Finnish Defense Minister Jussi Niinisto.

The Air Force Monitors Finland's Territory

The Finnish Navy does not need an aircraft carrier and its raison d'etre is primarily coastal defense provided by a small fleet of fast attack and destroyers. Finland's most important naval project at the moment is the 2020 Squadron project, which aims to create four corvettes with anti-aircraft missiles, anti-ship missiles, torpedoes and mines. The RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow is American-made.

The Finnish Navy is small - only about 3,500 sailors, of which 1,900 are conscripts. The main threat to neutral Finland comes from Russia and other Western countries that might occupy the country against Russia, making the military the main means of defending the territory.

The Finnish Air Force operates approximately 62 Hornets, 62 F/A-18Cs and seven F/A-18Ds – the latter being the two-seat variant – for a total of three squadrons. This is the type of fighter that Jarvinen flew when he boarded the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln.

Finnish Fighter Jets

Finland is in the early stages of purchasing a replacement fighter, possibly the new F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, the F-35.

Finnish Airforce Hi Res Stock Photography And Images

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