The evaluation phase of the MVX project is complete, negotiations continue
The procurement of multipurpose aircraft, or the MVX project, is progressing as planned. The Border Guard invited all four prime candidates to Helsinki in June to Rajatalo. Each candidate was consulted for three days about the package, price and terms of the contract.
The aim of the MVX project is to find a solution that best meets the performance requirements, which is also sustainable in terms of life cycle costs. Bidders were given the opportunity to update their Intermediate RFQ bids based on the negotiations. Updated offers were received in August and are currently being analyzed.
Future prime candidates:
- Field Aerospace, Canada
- L3Harris Technologies, USA
- Sierra Nevada Corporation, United States
- ST Airborne Systems, Sweden.
The aircraft suppliers offered are:
- Bombardier Challenger 650, Canada
- Dassault Falcon 2000LXS, France
- Cessna Citation Longitude, United States.
The evaluation of the offered aircraft and systems was completed at the end of August. The evaluations ensure that the offered systems correspond to what was promised and that they are suitable for the Border Guard's operational use.
The project evaluates the following entities in practice:
- aircrafts
- task management systems (MMS)
- electro-optical camera systems (EO/IR)
- surveillance radars
- certain new sensors and systems.
The MVX evaluation team and factory test pilots in Wichita, USA before the evaluation flight of the Cessna Citation Longitude. Photo: Border Guard.
The evaluations were carried out by the evaluation team of the Air Patrol Squadron, which consisted of technical experts, the crew operating the aircraft and test flight personnel. The MMS systems offered by all four supplier candidates were first evaluated in AprilMay. The evaluations were carried out at the Turku base and at the headquarters of the Border Guard.
Aircraft evaluations were carried out in parts in May and August. Aircraft evaluations include many inspections on the ground as well as tests carried out in flight, in light and in the dark. The flight characteristics of aircraft are also evaluated in simulators.
- ST Airborne Systems, in cooperation with aircraft manufacturer Textron, organized an evaluation of the Cessna Citation Longitude in Turku on May 16-18, 2023, and a simulator evaluation in the United States on May 27. Since it was not possible to carry out all the evaluation points in Finland, a flight carried out with the factory's test aircraft was also organized in the USA on August 24.
- Aircraft manufacturer Bombardier organized an evaluation of the Challenger 650 plane in Vantaa on May 2124, 2023, and a simulator evaluation in the United States on August 22. Since it was not possible to carry out all the evaluation points in Finland, a flight carried out with the factory's test aircraft was also organized in the USA on August 23. The events were attended by both Sierra Nevada Corporation and Field Aerospace; both prime candidates offer the same machine type.
- L3Harris, in cooperation with the aircraft manufacturer Dassault, organized a Falcon 2000LXS plane and simulator evaluation on May 31June 2, 2023 in France.
MVX evaluation team and factory test flight personnel in Wichita, USA after an evaluation flight of a Bombardier Challenger 650 aircraft. Photo: Bombardier.
Sensor evaluations were carried out in June-July in the USA, France, Germany and the Netherlands. In the evaluations of the sensors, in addition to the technical performance, the workload for the operator and the performance of the sensors in realistic conditions in scenarios similar to the operational tasks of the Border Guard were emphasized.
In the next phase of the project, a possible second negotiation round and qualification will be held, after which the final RFQ will be sent to the candidates still participating in that phase. The final offers are supposed to be received at the end of the year so that it is possible to conclude a contract with the selected supplier by the end of 2023.
The MVX evaluation team and factory test flight personnel in Istres, France after an evaluation flight of a Dassault Falcon 2000LXS aircraft. Photo: Dassault.
More information: Procurement of multi-purpose aircraft for the Border Guard | Border Guard