As Finland's HX-Hanke (Hornet replacement project) is one of the largest ongoing fighter aircraft acquisition programs, I thought the FAF deserves its own thread. At least I couldn't find one previously.
(pic: Wikipedia)
Anyhow, HX is now at Best And Final Offers stage and recent news generated some buzz. All five candidates have left their offers, though only Saab and Boeing revealed number of the aircraft, probably because they were only ones who managed to fit required 64 fighters to ~10 billion€ budget. Saab offer 64 JAS-39E's and two GlobalEye AEW&C aircraft. Boeing offers 50 F/A-18E's and 14 Growlers. Latter number is...surprisingly large, it's bigger fleet than Australia's. Dassault has told next to nothing to public about the offer. Eurofighter promises engine manufacturing line for Finland (?!). LockMart has commented that their offer has 'superior performance' even though they apparently didn't make it to 64 airframes. In addition to armament selection revealed in DSCA, LM offers JSM and AIM-120D for F-35.
Flightglobal article about Saab offer
YLE article about the BAFO offers (sadly only in Finnish)
(pic: Wikipedia)
Anyhow, HX is now at Best And Final Offers stage and recent news generated some buzz. All five candidates have left their offers, though only Saab and Boeing revealed number of the aircraft, probably because they were only ones who managed to fit required 64 fighters to ~10 billion€ budget. Saab offer 64 JAS-39E's and two GlobalEye AEW&C aircraft. Boeing offers 50 F/A-18E's and 14 Growlers. Latter number is...surprisingly large, it's bigger fleet than Australia's. Dassault has told next to nothing to public about the offer. Eurofighter promises engine manufacturing line for Finland (?!). LockMart has commented that their offer has 'superior performance' even though they apparently didn't make it to 64 airframes. In addition to armament selection revealed in DSCA, LM offers JSM and AIM-120D for F-35.
Flightglobal article about Saab offer
YLE article about the BAFO offers (sadly only in Finnish)