Finland’s first two F-35A Lightning II fighter jets landed at the Lapland Air Wing in Rovaniemi on Sept. 18, 2026, opening the operational phase of a 64-aircraft purchase intended to replace the Finnish Air Force’s aging F/A-18 Hornet fleet.
The aircraft, tail numbers JF-510 and JF-512, departed Lockheed Martin’s factory in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sept. 15 and made a refueling stop at Lajes Air Base in Portugal’s Azores islands before entering Finnish airspace at 5:21 p.m. local time. They landed at Rovaniemi 24 minutes later, escorted by Finnish F/A-18 Hornets. U.S. Air Force pilots flew the transatlantic ferry flight, a standard arrangement for international transfers, and Finland’s national roundels were temporarily covered during the trip while serial numbers and Finnish Air Force tail markings remained visible.
The delivery was originally meant to include a third Finnish jet, JF-511, which could not depart Lajes due to an unidentified technical issue, according to spotters and flight tracking reports. The two arriving jets were part of a group of six F-35As that crossed the Atlantic; three others were bound for the Belgian Air Force.
Finland selected the F-35A in December 2021 over Boeing’s Super Hornet, France’s Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon and Sweden’s Gripen, in a deal covering aircraft, weapons, training and sustainment through 2030 valued at roughly 8.4 billion euros, or about $9.5 billion. The purchase followed Finland’s accession to NATO in April 2023.
“The F-35 is one of the most significant capability projects in Finland’s defense, and its ambition level is high,” said Gen. Janne Jaakkola, Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces. “The arrival of the first aircraft in Rovaniemi is not an endpoint, but a beginning: we are building the capacity to use the full potential of the aircraft’s performance, as part of Finland’s defense system and as a seamless part of the alliance’s air defense and strike capability.”
The first eight Finnish-built aircraft, from Lockheed Martin’s 17th production lot, remain in the United States, where Finnish pilots and maintenance personnel are completing initial F-35 training at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas. Training in the U.S. is scheduled to continue until early 2028, after which nearly all instruction will shift to Finland. Aircraft mechanic training will begin at Rovaniemi later this year, with pilot training starting in January 2027.
Base construction is proceeding at four locations. Rovaniemi was ready to receive the first aircraft. Work at the Karelia Air Command’s Rissala base is targeted for substantial completion during 2027 so it can receive its first F-35s in 2028, while the Satakunta Air Command at Pirkkala and the Air Force Academy at Tikkakoski are also undergoing construction.
Finland expects to reach initial operational capability in early 2028, when the Lapland Air Wing will fly the F-35 exclusively, and full operational capability by the end of 2030, with deliveries continuing through that year. The Finnish Air Force will operate the F/A-18 Hornet and F-35A in parallel throughout the transition. A formal reception ceremony is planned for Oct. 1, with President Alexander Stubb in attendance.
Sources: Air & Space Forces Magazine · Defence Blog