The Finnish Air Force F-18 Hornet Fleet Completed
(Source : Patria Industries ; issued Aug. 8, 2000)
The Finnish Patria Finavitec Oy of the Patria Group has completed the final assembly of the 57 Finnish F-18C Hornets. The last one was delivered today to the final customer the Finnish Air Force. Throughout the program the aircraft have been delivered ahead of schedule.
Representatives from the Finnish Ministry of Defence, the Defence Forces, the Finnish Air Force, US Navy and the Boeing Company as well as other members from the American industrial team attended the official ceremony held in Kuorevesi, Finland.
The success of the Hornet program has provided Patria Finavitec with an important industrial reference and raised the company´s expertise of new generation technology within avionics and systems to a new level.
"The complexity of military technology has taken us to the point where it is not always feasible to have 100% support capability in country. The role of the domestic industry is to become a centre of excellence in carefully selected technologies and competencies. This knowledge can then be utilised over a broader scale of defence equipment and increasingly across the national borders as well," stated Mr. Jorma Eloranta, President and CEO of the Patria Group, in his speech at the Ceremony.
The Finnish Air Force decided to purchase F-18 Hornets in 1992. The Finnish industry became involved at a very early stage of the program as part of the evaluation team. The objective was to analyse the candidates from an industrial point of view and finally to establish a local capability to support the operational use of the aircraft during the entire life-cycle.
Patria Finavitec Oy has been responsible for the final assembly of the 57 C-model Hornets, their engines and landing gears, integration of the Finnish Data Link as well as development of a radar bench and other test equipment and software. The first F-18C Hornet was delivered from Patria Finavitec in 1996.
Between 1993 1998 the subsidiary Patria Finavicomp Oy has been the single source manufacturer of the F/A-18C forward fuselages as well as the composite dorsal and lex covers. The manufacturing of the F/A18 E/F dorsal covers made of composite materials still continues.
Patria Finavitec Oy is part of the Patria Industries Group. Patria Industries operates internationally as a technology group whose core business areas include products and services within aviation and space, defence and telecommunication. The Group had net sales in 1999 of EUR 192.9 million (MFIM 1 147.2) and the number of employees was approximately 2 150.
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