Finland Looking At Taurus, But May Buy JASSM / Finland Getting Top US Missiles?

Finland Looking At Taurus, But May Buy JASSM / Finland Getting Top US Missiles?

(NSI News Source Info) April 4, 2009: The Finnish Air Force is buying at least 200 million euros worth of new equipment for its F-18C Hornet jet fighters. American JASSM air-to-surface missiles may become the latest addition to Finnish fleets.

The JASSM project began in 1995 after the cancellation of the AGM-137 TSSAM project. The TSSAM was designed as a high precision stealthy missile for use at stand-off ranges, but poor management of the project resulted in rising costs. Since the requirement for such weapons still existed, the military quickly announced a follow-up project with similar goals. Initial contracts for two competing designs were awarded to McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed Martin in 1996, and the missile designations AGM-158A and AGM-159A were allocated to the two weapons. Lockheed Martin's AGM-158A won and a contract for further development was awarded in 1998. The AGM-158A is powered by a Teledyne CAE J402 turbojet. While carried the wings are folded to reduce size, flipping out on launch. There is a single vertical tail. Guidance is via inertial navigation with updating from a global positioning system. Target recognition and terminal homing is via an imaging infrared seeker. A data link allows the missile to transmit its location and status during flight, allowing improved bomb damage assessment. Accuracy is extremely good. The warhead is a WDU-42/B 450 kg (1000 lb) penetrator. The JASSM will be carried by a wide range of aircraft - the F-15E, F-16, F/A-18, F-35, B-1B, B-2 and B-52 are all intended to carry the weapon.

The government’s financial affairs committee gave the go-ahead on Wednesday to buy the weapons from the US Navy. The hardware includes long-range air-to-ground missiles.

The upgrade is part of a 17-year development programme with a total price tag of about one billion euros.

Under the plan, the entire fleet of Hornet jets will be updated by the end of 2016. The need for updating was already known when the decision was made to buy the US-made planes in 1992. Two agreements on industrial cooperation are linked with the deal. The Finnish Patria Aviation will install the devices.

Top-of-the-line missiles

Finnish defense officials expect the US to sell Finland its top-of-the-line JASSM air-to-surface missiles as part of the upgrade programme for the country's fleet of F-18 Hornet jet fighters. According to a Defense Ministry memo accessed by YLE, both the JASSM and the German-Swedish Taurus missile are under consideration.

In February 2007, the United States declined to sell JASSM missiles to Finland, which at the time was seen by some as a sign of political mistrust.

The JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile) is an autonomous, long-range, conventional, air-to-ground, precision standoff missile for the U.S. Air Force and Navy. JASSM is designed to destroy high-value, well-defended, fixed and relocatable targets. JASSM's significant standoff range keeps Air Force and Navy aircrews well out of danger from hostile air defense systems. The missile's mission effectiveness approaches single-missile target kill capability. With this superior performance and affordable price, JASSM offers the best value of any weapon in its class.

Officially it was denied that there was any friction between the two countries. Later there was speculation that the US had been experiencing technical problems with the missiles and so put a freeze on sales abroad.