Saab Offers Gripen to Finland

[A.P. Richelieu]

https://saabgroup.com/media/news-press/news/2019-01/saab-offers-gripen-to-finland/

Supported by Sweden, Saab has today submitted its proposal for the Finnish HX fighter procurement to the Finnish defence procurement agency, the Logistics Command of the Finnish Defence Forces. The proposal comprises 64 Gripen aircraft, both single-seat Gripen E and dual-seat Gripen F, and is the formal response to the customer’s Request for Quotation (RFQ) issued in April 2018.

Saab’s offered solution features the latest available technology for a continuously changing and very challenging operational environment.

“The outstanding capabilities of Gripen are an excellent match for the Finnish needs and requirements. With Gripen, Finland can renew its fighter fleet without compromising on the number of fighters owing to a truly competitive life-cycle cost. Our offer constitutes a substantial contribution to the operational capability of the Finnish Defence Forces”, says Jonas Hjelm, Senior Vice President and head of Saab business area Aeronautics.

As part of the proposal, Saab offers a substantial weapon and sensor package as well as the necessary equipment and associated services needed for operating the system, including an industrial co-operation programme with the aim to build extensive national capabilities in Finland for Security of Supply. It also includes transfer of maintenance, repair and overhaul capabilities to local industry, production of aircraft and an establishment of a Gripen sustainment and development centre in Finland.

According to the customer’s planning, a procurement decision is anticipated in 2021.

The Gripen E programme is progressing according to plan, with production on-going and customer deliveries starting this year.

Five nations are currently operating Gripen; Sweden, South Africa, Czech Republic, Hungary and Thailand. Sweden and Brazil have ordered Gripen E and Brazil has also ordered Gripen F. Additionally, the UK Empire Test Pilots School (ETPS) uses Gripen for test pilot training.

 

[Nilgiri]

Finland is replacing its F-18s?

 

[A.P. Richelieu]

Finland is replacing its F-18s?

Yes, they are reaching end of life.
Should be gone in about 10 years, and the replacement needs to be inducted in 5-7 years.

 

[Jäger]

I find this competition very interesting. I heard the US is pitching the EA-18G Growler to Finland but I'm not sure that's completely correct, and the F-35
then you have SAAB's proposal and of course GMBH's Eurofighter and Dassault's Rafale
I think the contract should be awarded to SAAB due to the historical fact that they flew older SAAB models like the SAAB 35 Draken.

 

[Avicenna]

Go Gripen!

 

[Nilgiri]

Go Gripen!

Its got a "grip" on the situation unfolding.

 

[A.P. Richelieu]

Google Translate from Finnish - not so easy for the algorithm apparently.
https://www.uusisuomi.fi/kotimaa/27...ainava-ehto-suomelle-vain-ruotsalainen-gripen


The entry of the Left Alliance parliamentary election program seems to limit the majority of Finnish fighter candidates in practice if the entry is interpreted broadly.
The Opposition Party in the Parliamentary Election Program published by the Left Alliance on Wednesday is as follows:

“The Left Alliance opens a critical review of the acquisition of new fighters. Procurement should not give the Defense Forces an open peak, but should be subject to a broad political debate. Fighters should not be acquired from war countries. '

The party has previously questioned whether the same number of new aircrafts should be acquired as the existing Hornets.

However, in particular, the last sentence of the electoral program now raises a lot of questions: What is meant by war countries? If the sentence is interpreted broadly, only the Swedish Saab Gripen E / F would come to the left for Finnish fighter candidates.

The Finnish fighter candidates are as follows:

- Boeing F / A-18 Super Hornet (United States)

- Dassault Rafale (France)

- Eurofighter Typhoon (United Kingdom, European)

- Lockheed Martin F-35 (United States)

- Saab Gripen E / F (Sweden).

The United States and troops from Eurofighter have been involved in the fighting in Afghanistan. Syrian intervention has also included French troops.

Only Sweden has not been involved in armed activities from the manufacturer of the fighter candidates. Nor is Sweden a member of NATO.

So far, the New Finland Party has not reached the left-wing President Li Andersson to comment on how the party interprets its entry. Under the presidential election 2018, the position of the left-wing candidate Merja Kyllönen was that Finland should acquire new fighters specifically from Sweden.

However, the alignment of the Left Alliance is now more pressing than it has been recorded in the party's parliamentary election program.

Markus Mustajärvi, a member of the Left Alliance and a member of the Parliamentary Defense Committee, does not dispute the interpretation that the posting would leave only the Swedish alternative in the New Finland interview.

This is quite a guiding condition because it leaves no one alternative left?

Mustajärvi laughs.

“It is no secret that we have strongly argued that the Swedish alternative should be taken seriously,” says Mustajärvi.

"Not only would it be more neutral in foreign and security policy, it would surely be more good for Finland to do industrial cooperation with Sweden."

Is this condition created from special Gripen love?

"It is not love, but on the contrary, we have found that this future acquisition has been driven behind the ocean (USA...), and for that reason we want the Swedish alternative to be on the same line as the others."

Mustajärvi points out that the Left Alliance has long been asking about arms exports, whether any material can be exported to a war country.

“I find it quite interesting to raise the question of whether the acquisition of this dimension can be done by war from the current country,” says Mustajärvi.

The fighter squadroning recently flared to a new debate, as the largest opposition party, the sdp, was not ready to commit to a similar number of fighters as the Hornets today. In addition to Sdp, this was also the view of the Left Alliance, the Greens and the Basic Finns.

Sdp is of the opinion that the amount should be decided only after the tenders have been considered.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

No JF-17 in the selection list?