Finland Requests 3rd Upgrade Phase for its F-18s
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On Sept 9/08, the US DSCA announced [PDF] Finland’s official request for the 3rd phase of its F-18 Mid-Life Upgrade Program to modernize its 63 F/A-18C and F/A-18D Hornet aircraft. The contract could be worth up to $406 million, and Boeing subsidiary McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, MO will be the prime contractor. Finland has already begun working to enhance its air force with LITENING targeting pods, modern AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM and AIM-9X Sidewinder air-air missiles, and other enhancements. Items requested in this notice include:
- 1 AGM-154C Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) Captive Air Training Missile
- 15 AGM-154C JSOW precision glide bombs
- 79 Multifunctional Information Display Systems/Low Volume Terminals (MIDS/LVT) to provide Link 16 shared displays
- 72 MIDS Electronic Interference Blanking Units
- 70 AN/ARC-210 (RT-1851A-c) Radios, including Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS)
- 75 AN/AYQ-9 (V) Stores Management System Upgrades. The current state of the art is the AN/AYQ-22.
- 72 Color Cockpit Displays
- 70 Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS) Laser Helmet Shields – presumably a protective addition, as Finland is already a JHMCS customer.
- 1 Lot of JHMCS Spares
- Plus recorders, receivers, devices, Joint Mission Planning system upgrades, software test and integration center upgrades, engineering change proposals, component improvement program, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical data, personnel training and equipment, and other support.
Implementation of this proposed sale will require the assignment of U.S. Government or contractor representatives to travel to Finland for approximately 4 months, to provide technical support for equipment preparation, installation and testing, and checkout. See also Helsingin Sanomat | Flight International.
Additional Readings
- DID – Finland to Buy Cruise Missiles for its Hornets. Covers their ongoing efforts, and results.
- Finland’s Ilmaviomat – Hornet-kaluston elinkaaripaivitystyo etenee. Details MLU1 and MLU2.
