Finland receives first two F-35A fighters at Lapland Air Wing

The Finnish Air Force's first two F-35A Lightning II aircraft landed in Finland on September 18, 2026, arriving at the Lapland Air Wing in Rovaniemi. The jets, carrying tail numbers JF-510 and JF-512, will join HävLLv 11 (11 Squadron).

The delivery flight began at Lockheed Martin's facility in Fort Worth, Texas, and took three days, including a stop at Lajes Air Base in the Azores on September 15. The two Finnish aircraft were part of a group of six F-35As crossing the Atlantic, accompanied by two U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotankers from the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall, flying with the callsigns BLUE01 and BLUE02. The Finnish jets used the callsigns RETRO64 to RETRO66.

The other three aircraft in the group were Belgian F-35As, with tail numbers FL-013, FL-015 and FL-016, and were bound for delivery to the Belgian Air Force using the callsigns RETRO61 to RETRO63.

One of the Finnish aircraft, JF-511, was unable to depart Lajes because of an unidentified technical issue, according to flight tracking and spotter accounts. The three Belgian jets departed successfully, so the Finnish delivery consisted of two aircraft rather than the intended three.

Finland has ordered 64 F-35As, numbered JF-501 to JF-564, which will replace its current fleet of F/A-18C/D Hornets. The service plans to reach Initial Operational Capability and begin delivering the aircraft to the Karelia Air Wing at Rissala, its second main operating base.