The Finnish Air Force has reached a defining moment in its multiyear HX Fighter Programme with the maiden flight of its first F-35A Lightning II on December 8, 2025. The new aircraft, carrying the serial number JF-501, took to the skies from Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas, home to Lockheed Martin’s primary F-35 production line. The milestone comes just days ahead of the official rollout ceremony scheduled for December 16, an event set to feature Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, underscoring the strategic importance of the acquisition.
The successful maiden flight confirms that the final assembly and testing of JF-501 remain on schedule. Assembly began in late 2024 and was completed over the course of a year, aligned with plans for an autumn 2025 airframe completion. A symbolic part of the production journey occurred during a visit by Henrik Elo, retired Finnish Air Force colonel and director of Finland’s F-35 programme, who signed his name on the jet’s forward bulkhead on October 28, 2024. That signature, now literally embedded in the aircraft’s structure, marked Finland’s commitment to transitioning into the era of fifth-generation airpower.
By late October 2025, JF-501 had been rolled out of the final assembly line, painted in full Finnish Air Force markings and pushed into comprehensive ground-testing cycles before its first flight.
According to Finnish government projections, the first F-35s will formally enter service in 2026, beginning with the establishment of Finnish training operations in the United States. During the same year, the first operational Finnish F-35 is expected to arrive at its future home base within Finland, where it will join the Lapland Air Wing. This marks the beginning of the gradual phase-out of Finland’s fleet of F/A-18C/D Hornets.
Finland has ordered 64 F-35A aircraft—a full one-for-one replacement of its Hornet fleet, which currently includes roughly 55 F/A-18Cs and seven F/A-18Ds procured in 1992. This parity in total numbers contrasts sharply with the trends in many other F-35-acquiring nations, which have opted for smaller fleets to replace larger inventories. Finland, facing some of Europe’s most strategically sensitive airspace, has judged it necessary to maintain its full fighter count.
All Finnish jets will be delivered with the Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3) upgrade, a comprehensive enhancement of the aircraft’s computing backbone. TR-3 brings a next-generation processor, expanded memory and an open-architecture design—paving the way for more agile integration of emerging sensors, weapons and software-driven capabilities. The upgrade will serve as the basis for the F-35’s forthcoming Block 4 improvements, making Finland’s jets among the most advanced in the global fleet.
Speaking from Fort Worth, Henrik Elo praised the programme’s steady progress. “We are advancing exactly as planned as we build the various capability areas of our F-35,” he noted, emphasising that even small ceremonial milestones, such as his signature on the forward fuselage, hold meaning for the teams working across the transatlantic production and integration effort.
Deliveries to Finnish personnel will begin in 2026 at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas, which is set to serve as the primary F-35 training hub for Finland and several international partners. By late 2026, Finland expects its first home-based F-35s to land at Rovaniemi Airport, joining HävLLv 11 (11 Squadron) of the Lapland Air Wing. The Karelia Air Wing, operating from Kuopio Airport, will begin receiving aircraft from 2028 onward.
Both bases lie roughly 100 miles from the Russian border, positioning Finland’s future F-35 fleet at the forefront of Baltic and Arctic air policing missions. Following its accession to NATO in 2023, Finland has deepened its involvement in joint air defence planning, and the F-35 is expected to enhance interoperability and deterrence within the Alliance’s northern flank.
Finland will also join Norway and Canada in operating the drag-chute-equipped F-35A, a modification designed for icy and short winter runways. Housed in a fairing between the twin tailfins, the chute allows rapid deceleration on frozen surfaces. While any external modification can influence the aircraft’s stealth profile, Lockheed Martin maintains that the drag chute has been engineered to minimise radar signature effects.
With JF-501 now airborne, Finland moves into a decisive new phase of its fighter modernisation effort—one that will reshape its air defence posture for decades to come.
