Finland has chosen US defence giant Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighters in a tender to replace ageing F/A-18 combat jets, and plans to order 64 planes with weapons systems,the government said on Friday.

Lockheed Martin competed for the deal with Sweden’s Saab, US rival Boeing, France’s Dassault and Britain’s BAE Systems.

The procurement is worth an estimated 8.378 billion euros ($9.44 billion), the government said.

“When comparing military performance, the F-35 best met our needs,” Defence Minister Antti Kaikkonen told a news conference.

Reuters reported earlier on Friday that Lockheed Martin was set to win the contract.