The Finnish Defence Forces' Logistics Command sent a Request for Information (RfI) on weapons and other equipment regarding the HX fighter project to the governments of seven countries to be forwarded to their respective industries. A request for a quotation (RfQ) will be drawn up on the basis of the responses received,
The main goal of the RfI is to determine what capabilities will be available to meet Finland’s estimated future needs and therefore the focus is on available potential and capabilities in the post-2025 period. RfIs were sent to a number of government representatives in France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Norway, Sweden and the United States to be further sent to designated companies.
The weapons and equipment will be procured on a separate contract alongside the aircraft and RfQs on them will be sent in spring 2018. The decision on the weapons and equipment will be made as part of the decision on the aircraft type. Procurement contracts are scheduled to be signed in spring 2021. Since the estimated total price to replace the Hornet fleet will also include weapons and sensors, the negotiations to procure them will be scheduled to take place alongside negotiations to procure fighters; this will ensure that aircraft-specific systems will be managed. It will be possible to use some of the systems in several multi-role fighters and this will be an important factor to consider in the contracts.
The official RfQ to replace the Hornet fleet will be made in spring 2018 after five aircraft producers who have responded to the RfIs have been selected. Testing the suitability of different fighters in Finland’s conditions will be started in 2019 and the final procurement decision will be made in 2021. The decision will be based on four considerations: military capabilities of the multi-role fighter, security of supply chain and industrial cooperation, life-cycle costs, and security and defence policy considerations.
The new multi-role fighters will be introduced in 2025-2030, at the same time as the Hornet fleet will be decommissioned.
