In Finland's 10 billion euro competition to update its air force, Lockheed Martin's F-35 is pitted against Boeing's Super Hornet, Eurofighter's Typhoon, Saab's Gripen, and Dassault's Rafale
Jarmo Lindberg, former commander of the Finnish Defence Forces, is now lobbying for Lockheed Martin in the Nordic country's upcoming fighter jet acquisition aimed at replacing its ageing Hornet fleet, the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported.
According to Defence Ministry acquisition manager Lauri Puranen, Lockheed Martin has informed about the role of General Jarmo Lindberg, who completed his five year-tenure at the helm of Finland's armed forces in August 2019 and agreed to a six-month “cooling-off” period, during which he is unable to engage in any business activity in any way related to his former tenure.
Today, Lindberg is “providing management advisory services” to Lockheed Martin through his one-man consultancy firm, Suomalainen kenraalikonsultointi, which was registered in January 2020.
While the company stressed that this was not tantamount to lobbying, Elina Melgin, the CEO of the Finnish Association of Communications Professionals (Procom), and Anders Blom, a professor at Turku University, both maintained that “management advisory services” effectively translate to lobbying.
Finland's Defence Ministry has compiled a list of companies and “consultants” used by manufacturers to prepare for and support the tender process. According to the list, turning to…
