First Finnish F-35 fighters cross Atlantic and arrive in the country

The first Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fighters intended to operate from Finland have arrived in the country, almost five years after Helsinki selected the fifth-generation stealth fighter to replace its Boeing F/A-18C/D Hornets.

Aircraft JF-510 and JF-512 landed at Rovaniemi Air Base at 5:45 p.m. local time on September 18 after crossing the Atlantic from the United States.

The two F-35As left Fort Worth, Texas, on September 15 and stopped at Lajes Air Base in the Azores during the ferry flight. US Air Force pilots flew the aircraft to Finland, where they were escorted by Finnish Hornets before landing at Rovaniemi.

The arrival begins the domestic introduction of the F-35 into the Finnish Air Force. Rovaniemi is home to the Lapland Air Wing and will be the first Finnish base to operate the new fighter.

Finland ordered 64 F-35As

Finland selected the F-35A in December 2021 following the HX fighter competition and ordered 64 aircraft to replace its F/A-18C/Ds.

The first eight Finnish F-35s, JF-501 through JF-508, are being used at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas to train Finnish pilots and maintenance personnel. Finland’s first pilot flew the F-35A in April 2026.

https://x.com/FinnishAirForce/status/2101256953712246807

Those aircraft will remain in the United States during the initial training phase. Fighters produced from JF-509 onward are intended for delivery to Finland.

The Lapland Air Wing is scheduled to begin F-35 operations in 2028. The Karelia Air Wing at Rissala will then introduce the aircraft, and Finland plans to achieve full operational capability by the end of 2030.

Patria assembles F135 engines in Finland

Finland also secured extensive domestic industrial participation when it selected the F-35, including work on the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine and aircraft structures.

Industrial participation was a requirement of the HX competition, with the program required to generate work equivalent to at least 30% of the procurement value. Finland also sought domestic capabilities that could help sustain the fighters if international supply chains were disrupted during a crisis.

Patria completed the assembly of the first F135 engine in Finland at its Linnavuori facility on September 3.

Under an agreement with Pratt & Whitney, the Finnish company will assemble F135 engines and components through 2030. Linnavuori will subsequently provide maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade services for the engines during the operational life of Finland’s F-35s.

The locally assembled engines are part of Finland’s industrial participation program and are separate from the arrival of JF-510 and JF-512. There is no indication that either of the two aircraft that landed at Rovaniemi is powered by the first F135 assembled at Linnavuori.

Patria is also producing F-35 structures in Finland. The company began forward fuselage assembly at its Halli facility in Jämsä in March 2026 and will manufacture landing gear doors and other components.

Some of this production is destined for the wider F-35 program rather than exclusively for Finland’s 64 aircraft, placing Finnish-made structures in aircraft produced for other F-35 customers.