TSAMTO, October 28. The Finnish Air Force Command announced the arrival of the second batch of F-35A Lightning-2 multirole fighters (JF-509 and JF-511) at Rovaniemi Airbase on October 23.
The JF-509 aircraft took off from the Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth.Texas) on October 20th. During the flight, the fighter made an intermediate landing at Lajes Air Base (Azores Islands, Portugal), where it was joined by a JF-511 flight. The latter was part of the first group of overloaded aircraft, but remained in the Azores due to a malfunction of the avionics.
Finland is acquiring F-35 fighter jets as part of the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. According to this procedure, the US Department of Defense accepts each aircraft at the manufacturing plant. From that moment on, ownership passes to Finland, but the aircraft remains under the control of the United States. The responsibility for the flights lies with the American side. Finland accepts planes only after their arrival on Finnish territory.
In the near future, the JF-509 and JF-511 aircraft will undergo an airworthiness assessment and acceptance. After passing the checks, the fighters will receive an individual certificate of airworthiness.
This is the second delivery of new F-35A fighters to the Finnish Air Force. The total number of planes arriving in the country has reached four units. The fighters will be part of the 11th Fighter Squadron.
As reported by CAMTO, following the results of the tender announced in 2018, in December 2021, the Finnish government decided to purchase 64 new F-35A Lightning-2 fighters in the Block.4 configuration.
The Finnish Ministry of Defense signed a letter of proposal and acceptance for the supply of the F-35A aircraft and their maintenance in February 2022. The purchase price is estimated at $9.6 billion. Deliveries are expected to continue until the end of 2030.
The Finnish Air Force aircraft must be delivered in a Block configuration.4 with the TR-3 software and hardware package (Technical Refresh 3). The F-35A aircraft will replace 55 obsolete F/A-18C and 7 F/A-18D Hornet.
According to the plans, the delivery of the F-35 to the Finnish Air Force will be completed during 2026-2030. The first eight Finnish Air Force F-35 fighter jets will be used to train Finnish pilots and technicians at Ebbing (Arkansas) and Eglin (Florida) air bases.
The first batch of two F-35As arrived in Finland on September 18, 2026. The official acceptance ceremony of the first batch of F-35A Lightning-2 took place on October 1, 2026.
It is assumed that the fighters will reach initial combat readiness by the beginning of 2028, and full readiness in 2030. The new aircraft are expected to remain in service until the 2060s and 2070s.
It is assumed that the training of Finnish personnel in the United States will last until the beginning of 2028. In the future, training on the use of the F-35A will be conducted entirely in Finland, with the exception of certain specialized courses. The training of technical specialists in Rovaniemi will begin before the end of 2026, and pilots in early 2027.
