I'm afraid assumption is all that those not intimately involved with the programme have. We do not know their exact requirements; the parameters by which they seek to make their choice; or their priorities.SW1 wrote:You are assuming it’s all about a single platform. It is not. An aircraft only exists within a whole force structure/system.
From what is publicly accessible, the Finnish MoD seem certain that they are looking for a fighter:
https://www.defmin.fi/en/frontpage/admi ... m#33ff8a41
Where they specifically note:
Now we can debate the relevant merits of next-gen AESA radars integrated into the principal combat aircraft versus a stand-off non penetrating platform and the same with EW, but the way the H-x programme has been framed publicly is as a like-for-like F-18 replacement.Fighters cannot be replaced by other systems
(Interestingly the Finnish F-18s have always had a superior jamming capability to other global fleets, making use of the same jammer fitted to the USN's Super Hornets.)
If looking at peripheral products to support that fleet of fighters then I believe Hawk 128 can still be considered part of a "system of systems", albeit a support and training one, that would permit Typhoons to be more focused on combat mass, rather than a force multiplier in the conventional sense...
Very good and informative analysis ACC. Clearly there are great deal of "known unknowns" that even after selection next year (maybe?) will remain unknown.ArmChairCivvy wrote: I would imagine the mission sets (3 scenarios; not like in the Swiss competition AD, AG and Recce) were so construed that none of the competitors were likely to fully meet all three
... the competition after all is under an 'all-in cost' constraint, but the number of a/c is secondary to what they can do (e.g. in AD: dispersal, availability under such conditions, number of missions x length of mission... giving the numbers available to engage at any time under a protracted campaign by the invader)
could be a
Remembering how long this programme has now been running, and the geopolitical shifts we've seen since it started, the relevance of quantity might have changed somewhat. The platforms being considered have themselves evolved, and their prices dropped, quite substantially since it commenced too.