US refuses to sell missiles to Finland

[Aptrgangr]

US refuses to sell air-to-ground missiles for Finland’s Hornet jets


The Finnish Air Force has its eyes on an air-to-ground JASSM cruise missile.

Officials in the Untied States have rejected a preliminary request by Finland to buy JASSM air-to-ground missiles for the US-made Hornet F-18 jet fighters used by the Finnish Air Force.
Finland inquired about the purchase last autumn as part of an extensive package aimed at implementing MLU2 - the second phase of the modernisation of the Air Force’s fleet of 62 jets.
The Americans had no objections to Finnish requests in other respects. Finland will thus be allowed to buy missiles to attack radar stations, as well as NATO-standard Link 16 data exchange devices.

Weapons export licences have traditionally been seen as sensitive barometers of political relations between countries. Refusing to allow Finland to buy JASSM missiles suggests that relations between Finland and the US are perhaps not in as good shape as had been suggested.
On the other hand, JASSM missiles have only been sold to one other country so far - Australia, which is one of the closest allies of the US in Iraq.
"JASSM was on our lists, but we got a negative response. Now we must consider whether or not to renew the request", says Air Force commander, Lieutenant General Heikki Lyytinen.

JASSM and the whole MLU2 (Mid-Life Update 2) are linked with the Finland’s expansion of its air defences (with a new focus on the use of jet fighters) to air-to-ground attack capability.
The Hornets are well suited for such tasks, but significant changes must first be made to the plane’s computer software. However, the updates of the software of the F-18C/D models are being phased out in the USA, as the Americans themselves are upgrading to the new F-18E/F versions.
Therefore, the producers of MLU2 have no time to waste. Lyytinen says that Finland does not have the resources to produce the computer programmes independently. This means that the most important decisions on the MLU2 need to be made in the coming months.

The Finnish Air Force wants a cruise missile of the JASSM type which can be launched from a very long distance. The JASSM’s range of operations is more than 320 kilometres, according to its manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

Other precision weapon options include the German-Swedish Taurus and the American SLAM-ER. They can also destroy targets at a range of hundreds of kilometres, and would add unprecedented depth to the activities of the Finnish Defence Forces.
Lyytinen says that the costs of the MLU2 cannot be assessed yet. Although the decisive equipment choices must be made quite soon, the purchases themselves will not take place before the next decade.
Defence budget funding is coming from 2011, and all of the Hornets will be ready for MLU2 conversion in about 2015. The first Hornet to have undergone the first phase of modernisation will be ready already this spring.

Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition - Foreign

Puolustusvoimat - Försvarsmakten - The Finnish Defence Forces

[Buccaneer]

Interesting. Thanks for posting. If I remember correctly there was some speculation about one of the reasons behind the U.S. refusal to sell the JASSM missiles to Finland being the fact that Finland refused to sell old assault rifles to Afghanistan.

[Errigal]

On the other hand, JASSM missiles have only been sold to one other country so far - Australia, which is one of the closest allies of the US in Iraq.

It is funny how the Australians are considered a close ally in the Iraq war when they've only lost one soldier there so far. He was apparently killed cleaning his handgun. No joke.

Five Aussies injured in Iraq | The Australian

[Kalevi]

Weapons export licences have traditionally been seen as sensitive barometers of political relations between countries. Refusing to allow Finland to buy JASSM missiles suggests that relations between Finland and the US are perhaps not in as good shape as had been suggested.

If this is the case, I can name at least two reasons straight ahead:



These 70's leftovers (our president and ex-minister of foreign affairs) must be truly hated in the US administration - and I can't blame them for hating them. I wouldn't sell a missile to somebody who constantly barks about my wrongdoings and tries to make my enemies look innocent.

[Strengthandhonour]

Finland can always fight back and buy the weapons from one of America's enemies just to piss them off.

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

Originally Posted by Kalevi

If this is the case, I can name at least two reasons straight ahead:



These 70's leftovers (our president and ex-minister of foreign affairs) must be truly hated in the US administration - and I can't blame them for hating them. I wouldn't sell a missile to somebody who constantly barks about my wrongdoings and tries to make my enemies look innocent.

Is that Tarja Halonen on the left?

Although I don't know much about this case, I guess (I may well be wrong) that the refusal to sell those missiles most likely has nothing to do with any political objections, but some purely technical reasons.

You know, the so-called anti-Americanism of many European leftist politicians is a very usual thing and USA usually don't spoil their relationships with the countries ruled by politicians using this kind of rhetoric. It's just fashion, a mode of talk, nothing else. No European country has yet, for example, stepped out from NATO, not even those countries in which the most rabid so-called "anti-Americanists" were in the government.

Finland isn't even a member of NATO, so I think that the fact that some politicians badmouth America, worries even less the US administration than, say, in the case of Belgium, which is technically a close ally.

Is there any significant political initiative in Finland in favour of joining NATO?

[Aptrgangr]

Originally Posted by Strengthandhonour

Finland can always fight back and buy the weapons from one of America's enemies just to piss them off.

For example the German Taurus missile (not that I want to claim FRG was an enemy of USA) Finland uses F/A-18 Hornets, like Spain, that also bought this weapon. I hope the fact Sweden also considers to buy that missile does not scare the Finns off

TAURUS KEPD 350 Target Adaptive Unitary and Dispenser Robotic Ubiquity System / Kinetic Energy Penetrator and Destroyer is a German/Swedish air-launched cruise missile, manufactured by TAURUS System GmbH (TSG) and used by Germany and Spain.

The stealthy missile TAURUS KEPD 350 has a range in excess of over 350 km (officially). Taurus is powered by a turbofan engine at mach 0.8~0.9 and can be carried by the Tornado, Eurofighter Typhoon, Gripen and F/A-18 aircraft. The double warhead features a precharge and initial penetrating charge to clear soil or enter a bunker, then a variable delay fuse to control detonation of the main warhead. The missile weighs about 1,400 kg and has a maximum body diameter of 1 m. Intended targets are hardened bunkers, command, control and communications; airfield facilities; port facilities; AMS/ammunition storage; ships/submarines in ports and bridges. The missile also includes counter measures as a self-defence mechanism.

Mission planners program the missile with the target, air defence locations and planned ground path, then the missile uses a low terrain-hugging flight path guided by INS, IBN, TRN and GPS to the proximity of the target. TAURUS KEPD 350 is the world's only precision stand-off guided missile system that is capable of navigating over long distances without GPS support. Once there the missile commences a bunt (climb) manoeuver to an altitude intended to achieve the best probability of target acquisition and penetration. During the cruise flight a high resolution infra-red camera can support the navigation by using IBN and is also used for GPS-free target attack. The missile attempts to match a camera image with the planned 3D target model. If it can't, it defaults to the other, navigation systems, or, if there is a high risk of collateral damage, it will steer to a pre-designated crash point instead of risking an inaccurate attack with undesired consequences. TAURUS KEPD 350 is also attracting great interest in other countries. Spain's military bought 43 missiles while other countries have also expressed interest in the precision stand-off guided missile system.

Taurus missile: Information from Answers.com

[Kalevi]

Originally Posted by Plethon

Is that Tarja Halonen on the left?

Yep, that's "mrs. Intevnationav sovidavity".

Erkki Tuomioja on the right.

Originally Posted by Plethon

Is there any significant political initiative in Finland in favour of joining NATO?

At the moment, no, and the public opinion is clearly against it. But it is hard to know if there's some long-term plans behind the scenes.