F-35 Finland – Over the Frozen Atlantic
The 10-hour F-35 Winter Ferry Mission to Finland That Pushed Limits
Lieutenant-Colonel (Ret’d) Billie Flynn, CD, former Royal Canadian Air Force, details Lockheed Martin‘s mission to get two F-35s from U.S. East Coast to Finland for Finland’s fighter replacement competition. This route stretched over 10 hours.
Getting two F-35s across the ocean wasn’t the team’s only mission. During Finland’s fighter replacement competition, they had to prove performance in the worst conditions imaginable. For Lt. Col. Flynn, though, it was more than that. It was a test of endurance—man, machine, and the technology built to keep pilots alive in skies and conditions designed to kill them.
When Helsinki announced its search for a new fighter to replace its aging F/A-18 Hornets in 2018, it issued a unique challenge: prove it works in Finland’s winter. Five aviation companies answered the call. Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II faced off against Boeing’s Super Hornet, Dassault’s Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon, and Sweden’s Saab Gripen.
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In 2020, each contender underwent operational trials at the Finnish Air Force’s Pirkkala Air Base near Tampere. To get there, Lt Col (Ret’d) Flynn’s team had to ferry two F-35s across the Atlantic in February—through near-constant darkness, storms, and bone-chilling Arctic air. Lt Col (Ret’d) Flynn was honored to lead the team.
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The team plotted the route from the U.S. East Coast to Finland, crossing through Greenland and Iceland. The route required multiple aerial refuelings—both lifeline and hazard. Planning didn’t stop with the route. Their survival gear required equal care. Under their flight suits: thermal long underwear and an immersion dry suit with a watertight layer sealed at wrists and neck to guard against the freezing ocean if they had to eject. Over those: G-suit, Arctic over-pants, flight jacket, and outer gear.
Once in Finland, the team flew every day for a week—two-hour test flights that pushed both aircraft and pilots to their limits. Each mission had a purpose: air-to-air combat one day, precision ground attack the next, maritime defense scenarios along Finland’s rugged coastline. The Finnish evaluators were everywhere—on the ground, in control rooms, listening to radio calls, watching telemetry data stream in.
Lt Col (Ret’d) Flynn: Each test was designed to be intense. The air-to-air engagements demanded split-second decisions against a vast armada of simulated enemy fighters and stealth management.The ground-attack scenarios were just as demanding—threading through enemy defenses, locking targets on frozen ranges, weapons systems humming with precision that made you forget how much technology you were sitting on. And when we turned toward the Baltic for maritime defense tests, the horizon felt endless, the blue-gray expanse of sea and sky merging as the jet sliced through the cold air, steady and sure. After seven days, the results were unambiguous: the aircraft, the technology, and the pilots performed flawlessly.
The return flight mirrored the first—another ten-hour, sixteen-refueling trek over Arctic seas. Later that year, their efforts earned the highest compliment: Finland announced its decision to purchase 64 F-35s to replace their current fleet.
When Finland selected the F-35, Lt Col (Ret’d) Flynn knew it was more than just aircraft procurement. It was a statement—a clear sign that Finland’s strategic alignment was shifting toward the West. At the time, few could have predicted how swiftly that decision would lead to something far larger: Finland joining NATO. What began as an effort to modernize air defenses ultimately became a bridge into the alliance itself, extending NATO’s reach along an 800-mile border with Russia.
Lt Col (Ret’d) Flynn: From my perspective, the F-35 represented more than technology. It symbolized trust—a commitment to interoperability, shared intelligence, and a future where Finland’s security would be woven into a collective shield. When we tested the jet in Finland’s frozen skies, I could feel that shift taking shape. The aircraft performed beautifully in sub-zero temperatures, proving itself not just as a fifth-generation fighter, but as one perfectly suited for the northern environment some of us call home.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.
About Billie Flynn: Lt Col (Ret’d) served 23 years in the RCAF as fighter pilot, test pilot and combat commander. He went on to fly the Eurofighter Typhoon as a test pilot with EADS and then to Lockheed Martin testing the F-16 E/F and all variants of the F-35. He is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on 5th Gen fighter integration. Read more about him on his website, https://billieflynn.com/
