Finland’s first F-35A was rollout in December last year. Credit: © Lockheed Martin Corporation.

A Finnish Air Force pilot flew the F-35A fighter aircraft for the first time on 15 April 2026, marking an advancement in Finland’s F-35 capability deployment.

The flight occurred at Ebbing Air Force Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas, US, as per a video shared by the Finnish Air Force on X.

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This event followed the initial flight of Finland’s first F-35A multirole jet, designated JF-501, which took place during factory test evaluations on 8 December 2025.

The aircraft was subsequently presented publicly at a ceremony hosted by Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas on 16 December 2025.

In January this year, officials began airworthiness and acceptance inspections for the Finnish Air Force F-35A fleet at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas, following the arrival of the aircraft.

The following month, the first group of Finnish Air Force pilots commenced theoretical and simulator-based F-35 training at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

The Finnish Government chose the F-35 as its preferred aircraft under the HX Programme in December 2021. It ordered 64 F-35A jets, which will constitute the largest such fleet in northern Europe.

This Autumn, Finland’s first F-35 aircraft will be transferred to Lapland Air Wing in Rovaniemi, which will be the initial main air base in the country to deploy the F-35 capability.

Karelia Air Wing, an operation unit of Finnish Air Force in Rissala, Kuopio is scheduled to receive its first F-35A fighters in 2028.

Last month, Finnish Air Force commander major general Timo Herranen said that the introduction of the F-35 into service was progressing.

“I can be happy for the programme moving forward, but a great deal of work is yet to be done before we get to receive the first fighter jets in Finland. For example, as far as the infrastructure building projects are concerned, the number of details increase and become concrete as the time of the completion of the facilities approaches,” Herranen said.