Defence Forces sends offer request for HX Fighter Programme

The Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command on Friday sent the Request for Best and Final Offer for the HX Fighter Programme, said the Ministry of Defence in a press release.

The Request for Best and Final Offer concerns the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet (United States), Dassault Rafale (France), Eurofighter Typhoon (Great Britain), Lockheed Martin F-35 (United States), and Saab Gripen (Sweden).

The deadline for finalising the tenders is 30 April 2021.

The Request for Best and Final Offer and the expected binding offers from the tenderers is the final phase of tendering in the HX Fighter Programme.

The tendering phase began in spring 2018, when the Defence Forces Logistics Command sent a preliminary call for tenders and an invitation to participate in negotiations. In October 2019, a revised Request for Quotation (RFQ) was sent, and responses to it were received in January 2020. The negotiations have taken place between tendering phases.

Parliament has approved an authorisation order of 9.4 billion euro to procure multi-role fighters to replace the Hornet fleet.

The transferable appropriation of EUR 579 million for five years will ensure that the procured system will be introduced as part of Finland’s defence system. EUR 21 million has been granted to cover the costs arising from the preparation of the programme.

The HX options of each tenderer differ as to the costs of introduction into service, construction needs and integration into the defence system. This is why each tenderer will be given a tenderer-specific price limit and, in addition, a similar option will be included in the Request for Best and Final Offer for each tenderer for later purchases and contractual changes. Therefore, the price ceiling set for each tenderer is about nine billion euro.

At its meeting in January 2021, the government’s Ministerial Committee on Economic Policy supported sending the Request for Best and Final Offer.