Lockheed Martin rolls out the red carpet for Finland’s first F-35 jet
Government officials and military leaders from all over the world gathered on Tuesday at a hangar inside the Lockheed Martin’s F-35 production facility in Fort Worth to roll out the first in a series of F-35A Lightning II jets for Finland’s military.
In 2021, the Finnish government ordered 64 of the jets from Lockheed Martin in a nearly $10 billion deal. The order will be distributed over several years, with the first jets being delivered in 2026. Finnish pilots will be trained in Arkansas.
An individual F-35A costs roughly $80 million to produce. In 2025, Lockheed Martin will deliver between 170 and 190 of them.
The fifth generation fighter jet, sleek and enormously expensive, was a target of billionaire Elon Musk in 2024 when he advocated to cut the program’s federal spending as part of his role in the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency. The jet has been assembled in Fort Worth by Lockheed Martin since 2004.
Lockheed Martin has a $17.7 billion payroll in Texas, and the F-35 production facility in Fort Worth employs roughly 19,200 people, according to the company. The program has contributed $7 billion in local economic benefits, according to the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, and supported over 30,000 jobs in the greater Fort Worth economy.
“Today, we celebrate Finland’s first F-35, an aircraft that represents the cutting edge of technology, advanced mission capability and complete air dominance,” said Chauncey McIntosh, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager of the F-35 Lightning II program in remarks to the audience. “In an increasingly contested world, this aircraft strengthens national defense, deepens NATO integration and enhances allied readiness across all domains.”
The F-35 program includes roughly 20 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, and the Netherlands.
Finland fully joined NATO in 2023, motivated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after decades of political neutrality. This year, Russia has slowly expanded its military presence along Finland’s border.
“It’s an important day for the strengthening Finland’s deterrents and defense as the guardian of NATO’s northeast flank,” said Antti Häkkänen, Finland’s minister of defense, in remarks. “We are confident that our cooperation is mutually beneficial for both of our nations and both of our armed forces.”
Some parts of the jet are built in other countries, according to Greg Ulmer, president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics — but even the international component of the assembly line has benefits in Fort Worth.
“It’s a very international program, but a job in Finland is a job in the United States,” Ulmer told the Star-Telegram. “Us producing jets here ensures that we have those 19,000 jobs.”
Ulmer emphasized that Lockheed Martin’s economic impact in Fort Worth goes beyond the assembly line, too, as employees buy homes, build families, and invest in their community.
“They go home at night, they go to school, they participate in the community, they participate in city civic events,” Ulmer said.
This story was originally published December 16, 2025 at 3:59 PM.
