Covid-19: Finland announces delay to HX acquisition process

Finland’s Ministry of Defence announced on 11 August that there would be a delay to the issuing of best-and-final-offer (BAFO) requests to replace the country’s fleet of Boeing F/A-18C/D Hornet aircraft under the HX programme.

As a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to adhere to strict guidelines to prevent transmission of the virus, BAFO requests are to be issued either later this year or at the beginning of next year, according to a statement issued by the HX programme office. The fourth round of negotiations and performance evaluations with the five bidders for the programme – BAE Systems, Boeing, Dassault, Lockheed Martin, and Saab – are to continue between September and November, and will be maintaining compliance with the Finnish government’s Covid-19 restrictions and guidelines.

The issuance of requests for best-and-final offers to replace Finland’s fleet of Boeing F/A-18C/D Hornet aircraft has been delayed to late 2020 or early 2021. (Janes/Patrick Allen)

The BAFO requests were anticipated to be issued in August, for submission by the end of the year. The final contract is still expected to be agreed in 2021.

Some concerns over the potential cost of the programme have been raised in recent months because of the potential economic impact of Covid-19 on Finland and the global economy. A spokesperson for the HX programme told Janes that in the context of the Finnish government’s interest rate forecast, “The price [of the HX system] will be index-tied and indexes are negotiated among other topics.”

Furthermore, they added, “Even though the total cost of the procurement may rise – but not above a certain limit – it is still the most sensible way to protect the buyer against price changes. Furthermore, a certain part of the HX acquisition will be fixed price.”