Finland’s F-35 program has reached another milestone after Patria completed assembly of the first F135 propulsion system for the country’s future fleet of F-35A fighters. Patria is performing initial engine assembly at its Linnavuori facility in Nokia under an industrial partnership with Pratt & Whitney, the developer of the F135 engine. The Finnish Air Force is scheduled to receive 64 F-35A aircraft, and engine production at Linnavuori is expected to continue until the end of the decade. Once the assembly phase concludes, the facility is planned to transition toward maintenance, repair, overhaul, and upgrade activities for the engines as Finland’s F-35 fleet becomes operational. The program is expected to support approximately 50 direct jobs at Patria by 2030. Finland selected the F-35 through a 2021 foreign military sale involving Lockheed Martin as part of a major modernization effort to replace its aging F/A-18 Hornet fleet. The first Finnish F-35A aircraft was launched from Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility in Texas in 2025. The first aircraft is scheduled to be delivered to the Finnish Air Force’s Lapland Air Wing in late 2026.
