No.: 009/99
Date: 10 February 1999

New combat aircraft

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Defence decided today to issue a Letter of Request (LOR) for procurement of new combat aircraft. The Royal Air Force Materiel Command will request the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency of an offer for Eurofighter 2000 and the US Air Force of an offer for Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Block 50N. The requests are for 20 aircraft delivered within the time periode 2003-2010. The suppliers are requested to offer alternative payment- and delivery schedules. The request includes an option of 10 additional aircraft. The project is subject to approval by the Parliament (Stortinget).

Eurofighter 2000 and F-16 Block 50N are the remaining candidates in the competition. The two were selected as the best candidates after an extensive evaluation based on Norwefian Defence Research Establishment’s (FFIs) Combat Aircraft Analysis.

The requests include a demand for 100% Industrial Co-operation (Offset).