The Finnish government preferred the American aircraft to the gust of Dassault, Gripen and Eurofighter.
Le Monde with AFP
The good deal passes under the nose of Dassault, and under that of other aircraft manufacturers. The Finnish Government announced, Friday, December 10, that he has selected the American Lockheed Martin F-35 combat plane to renew his fleet, in a contract of about 8.4 billion euros for 64 devices. This is the most important weapons contract in the history of Finland.
The new devices, which must fly up to the 2060 horizon, will replace about sixty old versions of the American Boeing F / A-18 delivered in the late 1990s. “The F-35 Responded to the requirements for preparation, industrial and cost cooperation, “said Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen at a press conference. “By comparing the military capabilities, the Global F-35 system was the best to meet our needs. His fighting, intelligence and resilience capabilities were the best,” he continued.
In addition to the F-35, four other devices were in the running: American Boeing F / A-18, the Dassault Rafale, the Swedish Gripen Saab and the Eurofighter of the European consortium of the same name. Stealth plane said fifth generation, the F-35 is equipped with American engines Pratt and Whitney. Already chosen by several European countries, it has been used in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State group.
Finland, which shares a border of more than 1,300 kilometers with Russia, is not a member of NATO, but a partner state of the Atlantic Alliance. Half of the new devices will be based in Lapland (North) – and the other in Karelia (East).
The Finnish Government provides for the cost of maintenance and upgrading estimated at $ 10 billion until 2060, an undervalued amount under several analysts who expect a sum of the order of 250 million euros per year for 64 hunters.