One of the most large-scale and exciting events of the anniversary year of Finland will be held today in the capital park Kaivopuisto. An interesting item of the program will be the performance of fighter planes of the United States, Sweden and Great Britain. After all "birds" of one of the countries can be adopted by the Finnish Air Force soon.
The Finnish Air Force aviation group will show aerial acrobatics on F/A-18 Hornet fighter planes. Now these planes, which form the basis of Finnish combat aircraft, are looking for a replacement in connection with the expiry of the service life.
The authorities of Finland are exploring possible options and have already received the necessary information from five manufacturers from the UK, France, Sweden and the United States. According to preliminary estimates, the purchase of new multi-mission fighter planes amounting to 7-10 billions of euros will be the largest deal in the history of Finnish aviation.
At the show in Helsinki, Boeing will present a deck fighter-bomber and attack plane F/A-18 E Super Hornet (a revised version of F/A-18 Hornet). They are used by the US and Australia Air Force. Exactly this fighter plane is the one of the contenders for the ranks of the Finnish aircraft fleet.
Another variant that the Ministry of Defense of Finland considers, and which residents and visitors of Helsinki will be able to see, is the Swedish multi-mission fighter plane of the fourth generation Saab JAS 39 Gripen. It was developed by Saab AB company. In addition to Sweden, it is adopted by the Czech Republic, Hungary, South Africa and Thailand.
The third contender, who will appear on the show, is the Eurofighter Typhoon, a fourth-generation multi-purpose fighter plane from the UK. "Typhoon" was developed and is produced by Eurofighter GmbH. The aircraft is adopted by the Air Force of Germany, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Austria and Saudi Arabia.
Two more variants of fighter planes for the replacement of "Hornets" - F-35 of the American company Lockheed Martin and French producer Rafale.
At the festival, aerobatic teams will perform, including the legendary Red Arrows (RAF). In total, the audience will see more than 80 aircraft of different generations.
The festival takes place from 4 p.m. till 9 p.m. The entrance is free
