Finland Times

The RFI has been sent to the governments of Great Britain, France, Sweden and the United States, said the Defence Forces in a release.

The purpose of the RFI is to bring together visions as to what kind of solutions the recipients of the RFIs offer to replace the capabilities of the Air Force F/A-18 aircraft in the post-2030 security environment.

According to the Defence Forces, the Air Force does not want to restrict the types of aircraft that are considered, and therefore, it is useful to gain information on as many types of aircraft as possible in the preparation of the project.

The RFIs are expected to provide information on Boeing F-15 and F/A-18, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin F-16 and F-35, and Saab Gripen.

Besides the RFI, he Defence Forces also needs information in the new systems.

According to the Defence Forces, the defence forces of the chosen country usually provide the training for pilots and technical staff.

The deadline for the answers to the RFIs is at the end of 2016. The invitation to tender regarding the replacement of the Hornet fleet will be sent in 2018, and the procurement decision is scheduled for 2021.

The project to replace the Hornet fleet (the HX fighter project) aims at replacing the Hornet aircraft which are going to be phased out as of 2025 with multi-role fighters. The life-span of the Hornet fleet will be over by the end of the 2020s.