Finland warns fighter contenders to keep their budget-busting offers real

HELSINKI — Finland has issued a formal notification to industry candidates in its multibillion-dollar fighter program, urging them to keep their proposals within the prescribed budget constraints.

“We do not envisage that we will see withdrawals because of the revised request for quotations. We expect no change there,” said Lauri Puranen, who directs the Finnish Air Forces’ HX-fighter program. He said the move was meant simply to stress the need for all of the five international contenders to respect the program’s €10 billion, or $11.1 billion, limit.

Defense officials here have conceded that all five bidders, including Saab (Gripen), Dassault Rafale, the pan-European Eurofighter Typhoon, Boeing (F/A-18 Super Hornet), Lockheed Martin (F-35) have struggled with the project’s rigid budgetary ceiling.

"The budget set for the HX project has been an issue for all bidders and candidate aircraft,“ said Maj. Gen. Kari Renko, the deputy chief of the Finnish Defense Force’s Logistics Command.

Finland’s recently-elected, conservative-left coalition government has shown no willingness or flexibility to deviate from the billion budget cap. The defense ministry has been instructed to look for a fighter replacement solution within the budgetary range of €7 billion to €10 billion, or $7.7 billion to $11.1 billion.

Whatever flexibility exists in the HX project will impact the number of fighter aircraft purchased and weapons selected as part of the total acquisition program to replace the air force’s Boeing F/A-18C/D Hornets. The last of the service’s Hornets are expected to be retired by 2030.

The defense ministry is seeking responses to the reviews request for quotations to be submitted by the end of January 2020. This will be followed by a request for final offers during the second half of 2020, a process that will commence after stage-two negotiations.

The Finnish government plans to reach a decision on the HX fighter platform in 2021. The decision will cover the acquisition of a new aircraft, weapons, sensors, training, and spare parts.

Bidders are expected to use their responses to the revised solicitation to clarify the industrial-cooperation elements of their respective offers. Finland is looking for a solution that will benefit the country’s defense industry, and where parts and systems connected to the eventual contract will be produced under collaborative partnership contracts and joint venture agreements in Finland.

Gerard O'Dwyer is the Scandinavian affairs correspondent for Defense News.

赫尔辛基——芬兰已向其数十亿美元战斗机项目的行业候选者发出正式通知，敦促他们将提案控制在规定的预算限制之内。

芬兰空军HX战斗机项目负责人劳里·普拉宁表示：“我们预计不会因为修改后的询价单而出现竞标失败的情况。我们预计不会有任何变化。” 他表示，此举仅仅是为了强调所有五家国际竞标者都必须遵守该项目100亿欧元（约合111亿美元）的预算上限。

国防官员承认，包括萨博（鹰狮战斗机）、达索阵风战斗机、泛欧战斗机台风、波音（F/A-18超级大黄蜂战斗机）、洛克希德·马丁（F-35战斗机）在内的所有五家竞标者都因该项目严格的预算上限而举步维艰。

“HX 项目的预算一直是所有投标人和候选飞机都关心的问题，”芬兰国防军后勤司令部副司令卡里·伦科少将说。

芬兰新近当选的保守左翼联合政府没有表现出任何意愿或灵活性，不愿突破10亿欧元的预算上限。国防部已被指示在70亿至100亿欧元（约合77亿至111亿美元）的预算范围内寻找战斗机替代方案。

HX项目的任何灵活性都将影响到整个采购计划中战斗机的采购数量和武器选择，该计划旨在替换空军的波音F/A-18C/D“大黄蜂”战斗机。空军最后一批“大黄蜂”战斗机预计将于2030年退役。

国防部要求各方在2020年1月底前提交对审查报价请求的回应。随后，国防部将在2020年下半年发出最终报价请求，该程序将在第二阶段谈判结束后启动。

芬兰政府计划在 2021 年就 HX 战斗机平台做出决定。该决定将涵盖新飞机、武器、传感器、培训和备件的采购。

投标方应在对修订后的招标文件的回复中阐明各自报价中的产业合作要素。芬兰寻求的方案应有利于本国国防工业，并要求与最终合同相关的零部件和系统在芬兰境内根据合作关系合同和合资协议进行生产。

杰拉德·奥德怀尔是《防务新闻》的斯堪的纳维亚事务记者。