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The Finnish Air Force is one of the oldest aerial warfare service branches in the world to operate without interruption since its establishment in 1918.

Hanki 24 air operations exercise The Finnish Air Force will arrange the Hanki 24 air operations exercise from 26 February to 2 March 2024. Approximately 40 aircraft and 3,800 airmen will participate in the exercise. Hanki 24 will be the Air Force’...

The Finnish Air Force celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2018. To commemorate the centennial, FINAF's social media channels on Facebook and Twitter present landmark moments in the Service's history along the year.

19.3.2026 | The flight operations of Exercise Cold Response 26 involve not only fighter aircraft but also NATO’s E-3A Sentry AWACS aircraft, operating from Ørland, Norway.

The Midnight Hawks is the official aerobatic team of the Finnish Air Force. The team with its four Hawk jet trainers has proudly presented the consummate flying skills of Finnish military pilots in air shows in Finland and abroad since 1997. All Midnight Hawks pilots are qualified air combat and Hawk flight instructors at the Air Force Academy, rehearsing aerobatics on top of their teaching responsibilities.

15.2.2024 | The Finnish Air Force will arrange the Hanki 24 air exercise from 26 February to 2 March 2024. Approximately 40 aircraft and 3,800 airmen will participate in the exercise.

30.3.2026 | The introduction into service of the F-35 capability progresses, and the first multirole fighters will be flown to Finland this autumn. In this article, the Commander of the Finnish Air Force and the Director of the F-35 Programme explain details of how the service introduction of the fighter jet in the course of the year will take place.

24.7.2025 | Since autumn 2023, three Norwegian student pilots have been studying at the Air Force Academy, concluding their Hawk training phase in May. Next, they will proceed to F‑35 training in the United States.

2.12.2024 | On 1 December 2024 Brigadier General Timo Herranen assumed the role of Commander of the Finnish Air Force.

19.4.2024 | The Air Force Academy received an international addition in autumn 2023 as three pilot trainees and one flight instructor from the Royal Norwegian Air Force arrived in Finland for training cooperation.

13.2.2024 | The Finnish Air Force is organising the national air exercise Hanki 24 between 26 February and 2 March 2024. Rovaniemi will be one of the main operating bases of the exercise. The Norvatie highway strip will be taken into use for the exercise and traffic will be rerouted.

17.2.2021 | Lapland Air Command will conduct the Talvinorva 21 exercise in Rovaniemi from 24 to 25 February 2021. During the exercise, road 9523 (Norvatie) will be closed to traffic and used as a launch strip for F/A-18 Hornet multi-role fighters.

28.1.2019 | The French defence and aerospace company Dassault Aviation deploys a Rafale multi-role fighter to Rovaniemi Air Base for a cold weather testing event on Monday 28th January.

2.1.2020 | The Finnish Air Force will organise the HX Challenge testing and evaluation event from 9 January to 26 February 2020. The hub of the event will be Pirkkala Air Base.

28.2.2020 | The HX Challenge has been completed successfully. Finnish Air Force HX Fighter Programme Director, Colonel Juha-Pekka Keränen analyses the testing and evaluation event in this article.