Finland Welcomes First Two F-35 Fighters in Rovaniemi Ceremony

BELFAST — Finland marked the delivery of its first pair of F-35 fifth-generation fighter jets during a ceremony hosted by the Lapland Air Wing.

“A new era began” for Finnish defense forces when the aircraft arrived at Rovaniemi Air Base on September 18, the air force said, adding that the combat jet fleet “will form an integral part of Finland’s air defence well into the 2060s.”

In 2021, Helsinki ordered 64 stealth aircraft in a deal valued at $9.4 billion to replace aging F/A-18 Hornet fighters.

High-profile guests included Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen, Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Timo Herranen, US Ambassador Howard W. Brodie, F-35 Joint Program Office head Lt. Gen. Gregory Masiello, and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics President Orlando Sanchez Jr.

The event featured an F-35 flight display by a Finnish pilot, and Stubb’s speech “emphasized the transatlantic partnership and the security of the Arctic region,” according to the statement.

In-country delivery comes amid trans-Atlantic tensions over Arctic security, following a recent pact between the US, Denmark, and Greenland to strengthen “common deterrence,” which ended a standoff over Washington’s threat to annex the semi-autonomous island.

“For us, the F-35 is about power projection capability, about security and about situational awareness in the Arctic region,” the air force added. “It is about maintaining security in northeastern Europe.”

The milestone arrives nine months after Helsinki launched an Arctic foreign and security document citing changes “driven by Russia’s war of aggression, Finland’s and Sweden’s membership in NATO and the rising global interest in the Arctic and its natural resources.”

Though not mentioning Russia outright, Herranen said the F-35’s “ability to detect the enemy at longer distances and at the same time be more difficult to detect […] are a necessary part of the performance capabilities.”

The air force plans to achieve initial operational capability in “early 2028” and full operational capability “before the end of 2030.”

Lockheed is expected to continue deliveries through 2030. Outside the two in-country jets, eight units are based in the US for flight training and engineering.

By the 2030s, roughly 700 F-35 jets will be in Europe, with future “joint use and sharing of F-35 fighters, personnel and weapons systems.”

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