Production Finnish F-35A Lightning II
The production of Finland's first F-35A Lightning II is underway. Traditionally, the progress is marked with a forward fuselage signing ceremony of the bulkhead of the first aircraft.
For this occasion, Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force) Colonel (ret.) and F-35 project manager, Henrik Elo, visited the Lockheed Martin Fort Worth facility on 28 October 2024, and signed the bulkhead of the first Lightning II, serial JF-501, for the Finnish Air Force. Representatives from the Finnish Air Force, the Defence Forces Logistics Command, the Ministry of Defence, Finnish defence industry, and the US government and industry attended the event.
Back in January 2018, the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command communicated the programme outlines of the HX Fighter Replacement Programme (HX-FRP, stands for Hornet replacement with candidate X aircraft). In the final evaluation of the HX-FRP, the Lightning II met all the requirements of the security of supply, industrial cooperation and cost decision areas. So, in December 2021, the Finnish government authorised the Finnish Defense Forces Logistics Department to enter a procurement agreement with the US for acquiring the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II.
Finland’s F-35A multi-role fighters are being manufactured in Lines of Technology (LoT) 17–22. The fighters will be delivered with system update version 3, known as the TR-3 (Technical Refresh) configuration.
Finland’s first F-35A fighters will be completed in autumn 2025. The JF-501 will be handed over to the Air Force at a rollout ceremony in the United States in late autumn 2025, after which the Air Force will deploy the first eight aircraft at Ebbing Air National Guard Base (ANGB), adjacent to Fort Smith Regional Airport (AR), in the United States for the initial F-35 training of Finnish personnel. The Finnish Air Force will receive Finland’s first F-35A fighters in Rovaniemi at Lapland Air Wing at the end of 2026.
Finnish serial numbers consist of a two-letter prefix identifying the aircraft type and a sequential number of up to three digits. The F-35As will receive the prefix (designation) JF, which stands for Joint Fighter. The sequential number range starts with JF-501 up to JF-564. The Lightning II is the fifth fighter type after introduction of this serial system, hence the serials start with 5.
Two specific aircraft will receive special, unfortunately toned-down, tail markings. These will be JF-511 for HävLLv 11 (fighter squadron 11) with the Visentti (Bison) and JF-531 for HävLLv 31 (figher squadron 31) with the Ilves (Lynx). These squadrons are based at Rovaniemi air base in the north of the country, part of Lapin Lennosto/Lapland Air Defence Area, respectively Kuopio/Rissala in the east of the country, part of Karjalan Lennosto/Karelia Air Defence Area.
Credit photo: Lockheed Martin