F-35 deal strengthens defense cooperation between Finland, U.S.

REUTERS

Finland has chosen U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighters to replace aging F/A-18 combat jets and plans to order 64 planes with weapons systems in a U.S. $9.4 billion deal, the government said in December 2021.

The purchase is expected to increase Finland’s defense cooperation with allies Norway and the United States, experts said.

“When comparing military performance, the F-35 best met our needs,” Defence Minister Antti Kaikkonen told a news conference.

Military aircraft manufacturers have been vying for the deal since late 2015, when the Finnish Ministry of Defence began the search for a jet to replace its old Hornet fighter bought in 1992 from McDonnell Douglas, now part of Boeing. Finland is the 14th nation to opt for the F-35. It will begin phasing in the F-35 in 2027, said Finnish Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Pasi Jokinen.

The choice strengthens the small Nordic nation’s defense cooperation with its allies, most significantly the United States and Norway, said researcher Charly Salonius-Pasternak at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. (Pictured: An F-35B Lightning II launches from the U.S. amphibious assault ship USS Essex.)

“Finland and Norway already train together in the north, so it will be a political decision to determine what intelligence is shared and when,” he told Reuters, referring to the potential for the jets to share data in real time.

Unlike Norway, Finland is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), but it has forged stronger ties with the organization in recent years and chosen military equipment compatible with NATO members.

In 2014 Finland and Sweden, which is also not a NATO member, signed an agreement to train together and allow NATO assistance in crisis situations.

“The F-35 will provide Finnish industries unique digital capabilities that leverage fifth-generation engineering and manufacturing,” said Bridget Lauderdale, Lockheed Martin’s vice president and general manager of the F-35 program. “The production work will continue for more than 20 years, and the F-35 sustainment work will continue into the 2070s,” Lauderdale said in a statement.

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