As announced on 5 December 2021 Finnish newspaper "Iltalehti" citing "several sources in the field of foreign and security policy", the defence Forces of Finland has chosen the American fifth generation fighter Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II in the tender for the HX program on a promising fighter to replace the air force Finland fighter aircraft Boeing F/A-18C/D Hornet. The Finnish Ministry of Defense supports the choice of the F-35A.
Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fighter (military number 15-5189) from the 308th Fighter Squadron of the 56th Fighter Wing of the US Air Force at the Finnish Pirkkala Airbase during the demonstration tests of the HX Challenge 2020 under the NH program of selecting a promising fighter for the Finnish Air Force, 10.02.2020 (c) US Air Force
According to the newspaper, if the proposal of the Finnish armed forces and the Ministry of Defense on the choice of the F-35A is supported by the Finnish government, it will be approved within about ten days, and the official announcement of the government on the choice of the F-35A will follow "before Christmas week".
It is reported that the choice of the Finnish Defense Forces is based both on the qualitative characteristics of the F-35A and on its planned long service life, since the countries operating this fighter have pledged to develop and maintain the machine until the 2060s.
On the part of bmpd, we recall that as part of the tender for the NH program launched in 2015, it is planned to purchase 64 new fighters for the Finnish Air Force to replace 62 F/A-18C/D Hornet aircraft currently in service. The delivery of new fighters is planned for 2025-2030. The requirements for the NH program include a total procurement budget of no more than 10 billion euros (as can be judged, excluding the cost of weapons), and the total annual operating costs of the fleet of no more than 250 million euros.
Responses to the request for proposals for the NH program by February 2018 were submitted by five fighter suppliers, who eventually compiled a list of bidders, with proposals for Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II, Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft (a combination of 50 F/A-18E/F and 14 EA-18G Growler was proposed), Eurofighter Typhoon of the Thapshe 4 series (represented by BAE Systems), Dassault Rafale of the F4 series and Saab JAS-39E/F Gripen NG (the latter were offered in combination with two AWACS and Saab GlobalEye control aircraft).
All five proposed aircraft types passed demonstration tests in Finland under the HX Challenge 2020 project in January-February 2020. Prior to that, in June 2019, F-35A fighters of the US Air Force made a separate demonstration visit to Finland.
In our opinion, Finland's choice in favor of the F-35A under the NH program was predetermined, reflecting, among other things, the growing trends in Finland in favor of strengthening military-political ties with the United States. Earlier this year, the choice in favor of purchasing F-35A fighters was made Switzerland.
