Finland receives first F-35A fighters at Rovaniemi base

Finland's first Lockheed Martin F-35A fighters have arrived on home soil. According to the Finnish air force, two of the conventional take-off and landing variant landed at Rovaniemi airport on 18 September. The base hosts the service's Lapland Air Wing, which flies the Boeing F/A-18C Hornet.

The two jets, tail numbers JF-510 and JF-512, left Lockheed Martin's F-35 production centre in Fort Worth, Texas, on 15 September and stopped at Lajes Air Base in the Azores. United States Air Force pilots flew the multi-leg ferry mission with US tanker support. Video from the Azores showed two US Air Force Boeing KC-135 tankers behind the flight, which also included three Belgian F-35As heading for Florennes Air Base. The Belgian air force confirmed receiving those jets on 18 September.

A sixth aircraft remained in the Azores for reasons that have not been specified. The Finnish Air Force intends to field 65 F-35As, which will replace its F/A-18Cs. Eight of Finland's F-35s were delivered earlier this year but stayed in the continental United States to support initial training of Finnish pilots and maintainers. Helsinki says the first groups have completed that training, with the rest due to finish by early 2028.

The Lapland Air Wing is scheduled to complete its transition from the F/A-18C to the F-35A by 2028, after which Finland will run its own F-35 training pipeline in country.