President Stubb names first Finnish F-35 Sisu — YLE News

Finnish President Alexander Stubb named the first Finnish F-35 fighter jet “Sisu” during the official presentation of the aircraft on October 2 at the Lapland Air Command base in Rovaniemi. The word sisu has no direct equivalent in English and means extraordinary perseverance in the face of extreme hardship, YLE News reports.

Finland’s most expensive procurement

Finland has ordered 64 US-made F-35 fighter jets. The procurement, which became the most expensive in the country’s history, is valued at around €10 billion. The total includes expenses for the aircraft, weapons and the construction of airfield infrastructure.

Costs will also increase throughout the aircraft’s service life due to upgrades to their systems. Two F-35s have now arrived in Finland, while the Lapland Air Command expects deliveries of new aircraft next year.

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Replacing Hornet fighters

The F-35s will gradually replace Finland’s aging Hornet fighter jets. The first new aircraft are expected to be ready to carry out air combat missions within a year.

During the ceremony, the program was initially postponed due to unfavorable weather, but a Hornet demonstration flight later took place, along with a display of the F-35’s first maneuvers in Finnish skies. According to YLE News, these aircraft can operate almost autonomously, detect threats, exchange data with other fighter jets and evade radar detection. They are also expected to be effective at detecting small drones flying at low altitude.