Military airframer Lockheed Martin has begun assembling the first F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter destined for Finland.
The Finnish air force (FAF) revealed the milestone on 29 October, saying it expects to receive the inaugural aircraft, designated JF-501, in the autumn of 2025.
That jet, along with Helsinki’s next seven F-35 examples, will be delivered to Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas, where Finland’s first F-35 pilots will train to fly the single-engined fighter.
Helsinki’s F-35 programme director Henrik Elo signed part of JF-501’s forward fuselage at Lockheed’s Fort Worth, Texas assembly line on 28 October, an event he called “minor, but symbolically important”.
“I am very pleased that we are progressing in building the various capability areas of our F-35 as planned,” the retired FAF colonel says.
According to Lockheed, the next step of production for Finland’s first F-35 will see the major aircraft sections mated inside a device called Electronic Mate and Alignment System (EMAS).
“In EMAS, the jet’s four major components – the forward fuselage, centre fuselage, wing assembly and aft section – are joined together by an advanced system of lasers and sensors,” Lockheed says.
Once moved out of EMAS, each F-35 moves into the final stages of assembly.
Notably, all 64 of Finland’s F-35s will be delivered in the latest Technical Refresh 3 (TR-3) configuration. Challenges in certificating the new hardware and software forced a one-year halt to F-35 deliveries, which resumed in July.
While the TR-3 jets are now approved for training flights, Lockheed has yet to complete certification on the full combat capability.
Despite those challenges, Finland’s F-35As are still expected to begin arriving on home soil late in 2026, with the first examples assigned to Rovaniemi air base in the Lapland region, home to one of the country’s two operational fighter wings.
Stationed just 100 miles (160km) from the Russian border on the strategic Kola Peninsula, the Lapland Air Wing’s primary mission is airspace patrol and interdiction. That mission now extends to the territory of Finland’s neighbouring NATO allies, following Helsinki’s accession into the military alliance in 2023.
With an acquisition programme covering 64 conventional take-off and landing F-35As, Finland is poised to become one of the larger operators of the stealth fighter. The Lightning II will replace the FAF’s aged fleet of 55 Boeing F/A-18C/D Hornet strike fighters.
The Nordic country selected the F-35 as the winner of its HX fighter competition in 2021, with the Lockheed stealth jet besting offers from Boeing and Saab.
US airframer Boeing had proposed a combination of newer F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-8G Growler electronic attack jets to replace Finland’s older generation Hornets, while Swedish rival Saab put forward its latest Gripen E/F fighter, along with a pair of GlobalEye surveillance aircraft.
Finland’s F-35 package is valued at €8.4 billion ($9.5 billion), including weapons and training support. The deal includes a domestic production partnership between F-35 propulsion supplier Pratt & Whitney (P&W) and Finland’s majority state-owned manufacturer Patria.
That agreement covers the assembly of P&W F135 engines and components between 2025 and 2030, Patria says. Finland will build new production lines near the city of Nokia to cover assembly and maintenance.
Following the completion of F135 production for the Finnish jets, the Patria facilities will switch to maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade operations, beginning in 2030.
The Finnish company has separate partnership agreements with F-35 prime contractor Lockheed covering a range of other manufacturing work, including 400 sets of landing gear doors and 400 forward fuselage sections for the advanced stealth fighter.
