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WASHINGTON/HELSINKI (Reuters) -Finland has chosen U.S. defence giant Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT)’s F-35 fighters in a tender to replace ageing F/A-18 combat jets, and plans to order 64 planes with weapons systems, the government said on Friday.
Lockheed Martin competed for the deal with Sweden’s Saab, U.S. rival Boeing (NYSE:BA), France’s Dassault and Britain’s BAE Systems (OTC:BAESF).
The procurement is worth an estimated 8.378 billion euros ($9.44 billion), the government said.
“When comparing military performance, the F-35 best met our needs,” Defence Minister Antti Kaikkonen told a news conference.
Reuters reported earlier on Friday that Lockheed Martin was set to win the contract.
($1 = 0.8871 euros)
