An ongoing investigation by the Finnish police could lead to Finnish firm Patria losing a contract it won with the Slovenian government worth about $400 million, which made it the largest Slovenian defense contract in history, a Slovenian news channel reports. The contract was signed in December 2006, and the terms called for 135 armored vehicles to be delivered between this year and 2013.

Slovenian Defense Minister Karl Erjavec confirmed that the contract most likely would be void if any tampering in the bidding process was discovered. A clause in the contract states that Patria isn't to give out presents or cash to those involved in the tender. A breach of that clause leads to an automatic cancellation of the contract.

The Finnish police have arrested two people suspected of bribing officials in Egypt and Slovenia while representing Patria.

Yet voiding the contract would present Slovenia with a problem, as its NATO membership, granted four years ago, requires that it holds, among other things, the armored vehicles in question.

The Slovenian Parliament is conducting its own investigation into the matter, following a complaint from Sistemska Tehnika, the Slovenian company that came second in the competition for the contract.

The news comes at an especially inconvenient time for Patria, as it is bound to overshadow its earlier announcement of very healthy first-quarter profits. Losing a $400 million contract could be a blow to the $12 million Q1 profit it announced last week. Overall, its revenue was up 5 percent and its sales went from $188.5 million in Q1 2007 to $211 million in Q1 2008. The profit margin was up $3.2 million from the same period last year.

Patria's catalog of orders stands at $1.4 billion -- that is, if the Slovenian contract isn't canceled.

Italian training aircraft for Philippines

A total of $13.8 million will change hands when Italian firm Alenia Aermacchi delivers 18 primary training aircraft to the Philippine Air Force, according to a statement by the company.

It's not the first deal between the Philippines and Alenia Aermacchi, which previously sold 46 piston engines and 18-turbine powered SF-260 planes to the island group.

The new contract will deliver not only the training planes but also pilot and technician training, technical assistance, ground support equipment and spare parts.

Deliveries will start in a year and will be complete 18 months thereafter, according to Alenia. The planes will be assembled in the Philippines by Aerotech Industries Philippines.

Estonia opens cyberterrorism center and looks to purchase field artillery

Following an announcement last week that Estonia is looking to buy new or second-hand field artillery, NATO has opened a cyberdefense training center in Tallinn, Estonia's capital.

The Estonian location is a strategic one, as Estonia was the first country to come under a national cyberattack when Russian hackers shut down several government, bank, business, political party and newspaper Web sites for several days, descending the country into chaos a year ago. The hackers were upset that a Soviet-era statue in Estonia had been moved to an inferior location.

The center will be operated by Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Spain and will open officially sometime next year although it's already in use.

Meanwhile, the Estonian Ministry of Defense is looking for bidders to supply its army's Artillery Group with field artillery.

Finland could offer a deal closely matching Estonia's needs, according to Defense News. Finland has been trying for some time to offload its 36 122mm Soviet-era howitzers.

These howitzers would actually be third-hand, since they previously belonged to East Germany before being sold to Finland more than 30 years ago. Estonia insists on a significantly slashed price in order for a deal to be reached.