The Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced this week that the U.S. State Department recently approved the potential sale to Finland of more than $12.5 billion worth of stealth fighters.
On October 8, the DSCA, the Pentagon’s top arms broker, announced that the U.S. State Department has cleared a $12.5 billion purchase by Finland for 64 F-35 stealth fighter jets with air-to-air missiles and air-to-ground precision guided munitions and related equipment.
The official notification from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) reads:
sixty-four (64) F-35 Joint Strike Fighter CTOL aircraft; sixty-six (66) Pratt & Whitney F-135 engines (64 installed and 2 spares); five hundred (500) GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) All-Up Round (AUR); twelve (12) GBU-53/B SDB II Guided Test Vehicles (GTV); twelve (12) GBU-53/B SDB II Captive Carry Vehicles (CCV); one hundred fifty (150) Sidewinder AIM-9X Block II+ (Plus) Tactical Missiles; thirty-two (32) Sidewinder AIM-9X Block II+ (Plus) Captive Air Training Missiles (CATMs); thirty (30) AIM-9X Block II+ (Plus) Sidewinder Tactical Guidance Units; eight (8) AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder CATM Guidance Units; one hundred (100) AGM-154C-1 Joint Stand Off Weapon (JSOW-C1) Tactical Missiles; two hundred (200) Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER) AGM-158B-2 Missiles; two (2) AGM-158B-2 JASSM-ER Separation Test Vehicles; two (2) AGM-158B-2 JASSM-ER Instrumented Test Vehicles; two (2) AGM-158B-2 JASSM-ER Jettison Test Vehicles; two (2) AGM-158B-2 Inert JASSM w/Intelligent Telemetry Instrumentation Kits; two (2) AGM-158 Dummy Air Training Missiles; one hundred twenty (120) KMU-556 JDAM Guidance Kits for GBU-31; three hundred (300) FMU-139D/B Fuzes; two (2) KMU-556(D-2)/B Trainer JDAM Guidance Kits for GBU-31; thirty (30) KMU-557 JDAM Guidance Kits for GBU-31; one hundred fifty (150) KMU-572 JDAM Guidance Kits for GBU-38/54; one hundred twenty (120) BLU-117, General Purpose Bombs; thirty-two (32) BLU-109, General Purpose Bomb; one hundred fifty (150) BLU-111, General Purpose Bomb; six (6) MK-82, Inert Bomb; one (1) FMU-139D/B (D-1) Inert Fuze.
Importantly, the potential contract includes weapons repair and return support; personnel training and training equipment; weapon systems software, publications and technical documents.
Also, State Department has cleared a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Finland of F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft and weapons and related equipment for an estimated cost of $14.7 billion as a possible alternative.
It is important to note, however, that U.S. government approval does not mean a country has agreed to purchase the weapons or other systems in question.