NATO member Finland is on track to receive its first Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II by the end of next year, as production has begun on the aircraft at the aerospace firm's Forth Worth facility this week. However, the F-35 will initially remain in the United States for pilot and maintainer training – with an expected arrival in the Nordic country in 2026.

Finland is on track to receive a total of sixty-four of the fifth-generation multirole fighters, which will replace its fleet of fifty-five Boeing F/A-18C and seven F/A-18D Hornet jet fighters that its air force has operated since the early 1990s. The first of its Hornets was retired in April of this year, while the fleet of legacy aircraft will be retired from service by 2030.

At a ceremony at Lockheed Martin earlier this week, Col. Henrik Elo (retired), director of Finland's F-35 program, signed the forward fuselage bulkhead of the "national serial JF-501, company serial MF-1," international defense analyst firm Janes reported.

"The forward fuselages of Finland's F-35A fighters are being manufactured in the United States. Once the forward fuselage is completed, it proceeds to the production phase where the four major components of the fighter – the forward fuselage, centre fuselage, wing assemblies, and aft section – are joined together. Then the jet moves to the final stages of assembly on the production line in Fort Worth," the Finnish Ministry of Defense (MoD) said in a statement to the open-source military analyst company.

In March, Helsinki announced that an assembly plant for the F-35 Block 4 fighter jets would be built domestically near Jämsä, and would serve as part of the production chain of the fifth-generation fighters for the Finnish Air Force and other regional partners. It will be operated by the Finnish-based Patria and will produce forward fuselages and subcomponents. An estimated 100 personnel will be employed at the plant in a variety of assembly roles.

Finland's Future F-35 Fifth-Gen Fighters

Helsinki selected the F-35 as the winner of its HX Program in December 2021. Finland's F-35As will be produced in Lots 17–22 and will be delivered beginning in late 2025 with the Technical Refresh-3 (TR-3) standard that enables the Block 4 capability. As noted, the initial aircraft, JF-501/MF-1 along with the seven aircraft to follow, will be deployed to Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) in Florida, where they will be used for Finnish pilot and maintainer training.

Following the completion of training, the Finnish Air Force's F-35A fighters will initially operate from Rovaniemi Airbase of the Lapland Air Wing near the Arctic, while a second squadron will operate from the Karelia Air Wing. The current schedule calls for the aircraft to officially enter service by the end of 2026.

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