The Finnish Defense Ministry has concluded that the country needs a one-to-one replacement for its F/A-18 fleet.
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By Airwolfhound from Hertfordshire, UK (F/A-18 Hornet – RIAT 2015) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
“We have interpreted that to mean 64 fighter jets. Because the new jets are not faster and can’t stay up in the air any longer than the current ones, we will require the same number of jets to maintain the performance of our air defence”, says Lauri Puranen from the Ministry.
The tender for new fighters will start in 2018 and a newly elected government in 2019 will decide the winner.