Saturday guest “This isn’t like any car dealership at all,” says the former Draken pilot, who was made a fighter dealership shield

Finland within two months, the state will make the largest arms deal in its history when the government decides to choose a fighter of nearly ten billion euros.i

Behind it is a years-long unique selection process, with the final scores, reports and memos being written in the defense administration these weeks.

The choice will affect Finland’s entire national defense for the next 30 years.

October in the middle of the corridors of the Ministry of Defense would even hear the paper clip fall. No one is visible anywhere.

Between the curtains of the conference room is a view of the courtyard, which is like a trace of the Helsinki bombings. Openings have been torn in the side of the former building of the opposite General Staff. The building will be demolished and replaced by a new one for the security police.

From the portrait hung on the wall, the numb-looking general looks at: Oiva Olenius was Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Defense during the war years and long after that.

Sitting at the negotiating table is the Ministry of Defense’s Strategic Projects Program Director Lauri Puranen. In the eyes of the general public, politicians and the media, Mr HX.

Air force pilots with their grins always walk with their jackets open. Is it true that pilots’ leather jackets don’t even have zippers?

The former Draken pilot roars.

“I don’t know what’s in it, but pretty much the leather jacket carries a zipper open, but then when it’s cold, yes, it’s put on.”

Puranen retired as Air Force commander in March 2014. Or in reserve, as the soldiers say.

He says that he was at the helm of the plane the last time he flew from Helsinki on his own farewell with a Pilatus connection plane.

“There was a machine left. I no longer have any rights to fly. ”

However, Puranen’s retirement days were short. The General Staff already contacted us in June and offered jobs. That was the beginning of a new career as a civil servant.

The General Staff wanted Puranen to pull a preliminary study on the replacement of the performance of Hornet fighters. In Finnish, he had to prepare a public report on the replacement of the Hornets with its reasons.

The project was so significant that the Ministry of Defense took the report from the General Staff to its own hotels.

Following the completion of the preliminary study, the Defense Forces’ second major strategic project, Squadron 2020, became topical.

The Ministry of Defense also wanted to direct the ship project, so a new fixed-term strategic project unit was established at the ministry, which Puranen set out to lead.

“They wanted an independent man to pull projects here for the ministry. It was felt that I was independent because I was already retired. ”

One Puranen one of the most prominent tasks has been to give a face to the purchase of the successor to the Hornet fighters, the HX project.

He coordinates, responds to the media, and visits with other defense officials to inform politicians when decision-makers deem it necessary.

Something about Puranen’s role is given by the fact that he has been heard by the Parliamentary Defense Committee on the HX project for 18 times. He does pay tribute to the members of the committee.

“Once the committee chair has declared the matter confidential, nothing has ever been leaked.”

In terms of Puranen’s job description, the Ministry of Defense has been very successful. Indeed, many think he is the actual project manager for the HX project. However, this is not the case.

The key management team of the project consists of four men, one of whom is Puranen.

The other three are the Director of the Defense Forces Logistics Department, the Air Force Chief of Staff and the actual project manager of the HX project tender, who is an engineering officer at the Logistics Department.

“

“I am the speaking head that is sacrificed on the altar of the media.”

Puranen admits to being the HX project shield that has created peace of mind for the actual project organization and its leader.

“The project personnel of the Defense Forces are so busy that they want to be protected. I am the talking head that is sacrificed on the altar of the media. ”

Puranen has been a Conscientious President who comments, gives interviews and always responds to call requests. He is precise in detail, but understands the role of the media.

Puranen has also written a blog in which he has opened ongoing strategic projects. He has also used his blog to respond to critical media coverage.

Something about Puranen’s prestige and perhaps even the toothlessness of Finnish journalism is indicated by the fact that often his “roar” has been published as it is, as if as the ultimate truth.

HX has received criticism for its high cost, the transfer of former high-ranking officers to vendors ’breads, and the meaningfulness of the entire project as aircraft, missiles, and anti-aircraft develop rapidly.

“As a rule, the media has worked well. Some individual stuff is annoying, but it always comes. There is nothing left in the tooth cavity. ”

Purasta yes, annoying suspicions that in the HX project, generals would decide and politicians would be just rubber stamps.

“We have always received guidance from political leadership. Political guidance has already left there since 2015, ”he says.

“The Prime Minister has demanded that decision-makers receive all possible information as a basis for decision-making and it will be provided to them.”

According to Puranen, the selection of fighters has progressed in stages, and political decisions have always been sought at certain stages.

“There is a defense report in the background, three government programs and always before the launch of the call for tenders, the guidelines of the Committee of Ministers for Economic Policy have been sought, as they are directly related to the calls for tenders.”

According to Puranen, one would not hear that something surprising was brought to politicians at the time of the decision.

Puranen says that times have changed since the Hornets were acquired. Its time for decision making has been revealed later even questionable things.

“It is positive that the project and political guidance have been put together well together. It has been the foundation of success. Whenever we have reached a stage, we have had political support. ”

Another Purasta clearly annoying is the suspicion that the Defense Forces would have some favorite fighter.

“One thing that the Minister and the Chief of Staff have set as an absolute requirement for me is to follow fairness. I have not seen anyone be favored. Yes, it is a rather dull thing to look at and evaluate there. ”

New the fighter selection process has been laborious.

“We have had three rounds of tendering, four rounds of negotiations and five candidates.”

Puranen calculates that each round of negotiations with all five bidders always took a total of ten weeks. The rounds of negotiations were conducted by first negotiating with the vendors for a week and then a second week to discuss the results and write memos and reports.

“We have put the bidders very tight. Yes, it was reflected in the responses to the final call for tenders. Everyone has really tried their best. ”

“

“One thing that the Minister and the Chief of Staff have set as an absolute requirement for me is to monitor fairness.”

In the HX project is currently in the final stages of bringing together the results of the various candidates on the basis of security of supply, life cycle costs, industrial cooperation and performance.

Each area is evaluated by its own working group, which does not share information with other groups. This is to ensure that the assessments of the groups do not interfere with each other.

“There’s all this hundred people doing there. No individual can influence the decision, ”Puranen assures.

The multi-annual evaluation process ends with the working groups taking turns presenting their findings to a separate evaluation team made up of senior officials and officers from the Ministry of Defense and the various branches of the Defense Forces.

The winner will be selected from among fighter candidates who pass the requirements of security of supply, life cycle costs and industrial cooperation. Those who pass are finally ranked according to the points given for the performance of the machines.

“The group decision is made by a dozen people. For example, I have refused to be involved in any evaluation and vote. I am an observer in everything. I can’t influence the voting decision, ”says Puranen.

Minister of Defense has promised a proposal to the government before Christmas.

“That in itself is a good time to decide, because it will naturally take time for Christmas to take your breath away, but when the Christmas holidays are over, things will move forward at full capacity.”

Puranen reminds that the choice of a fighter is not the end of the project but really the beginning. This will be followed by preparations for final contracts, training of people, structural changes required by the bases and the impact of the acquisition on national defense.

“This is nothing like some car dealership where you buy a car and drive away. This is a huge task. ”