Finnish Air Force

Finnish Air Force

Last updated:
Operator Profile

History

Narrative Summary

Air Force History

Key Dates

Air Force Timeline

Current Status

To be added

Future Plans

None known.


Markings

National Insignia

Current — Historical

Aircraft Serial Numbers

The Finnish military serial numbering system consists of a two-letter prefix designating the basic aircraft type and a two or three figure number for each airframe, e.g. Magister FM-26.

Unit/Base Codes

Coding system not used

Aircraft

Aircraft Designations

None – Manufacturers designations used.

Current Aircraft Inventory

Table of Current Service Aircraft

All-Time Aircraft Used List

All-Time Table of Aircraft Used

Aircraft NOT Used

False reports of aircraft on order or in service

Organisation

Main Headquarters

PL3041161, Tikkakoski, Jyväskylä.

Organisational Structure

The air force is organised into three air-defence wings, each with a fighter squadron assigned to one of three air defence areas. A small number of centrally controlled squadrons provide general support facilities.

Current Order of Battle

Table of Current Order of Battle

Historical Orders of Battle

List of Historical Orders of Battle – to be added.

All-Time Flying Units List

Units List

Air Bases

Current Air Bases

The main air bases currently used are Halli, Jyväskylä-Luonetjarvi, Kauhava, Kuopio-Rissala, Rovaniemi and Tampere-Pirkkala.

All-Time Air Bases Used List

In addition to the main bases, there are also a number of smaller airports and airfields around the country which are sometimes used by the Air Force.
Military Air Bases Listing – to be added.

More Information

Books

Finnish Military Aviation Bibliography – to be added.

Magazines

World Air Power Journal No.5 p.144-146
Air International February 1997
Air Forces Research No.1
Combat Aircraft June-July 1997

Combat Aircraft Aug-Sept 1997
Air Forces Monthly April 1998
Scramble March 1997

Websites

Finnish Defence Forces Official Website

wikipedia: Finnish Air Force
wikipedia: Aircraft of the Finnish Air Force

Scramble: Finnish Air Force

PlanePictures.net

Airliners.net

Air-Britain Photos: Finnish Air Force

All-Time Units List
Finnish Air Force

Last updated:

This page lists all the aviation units of the Finnish Air Force, since its formation.

Lentorykmentti 1
Lentorykmentti 2
Lentorykmentti 3
Lentorykmentti 4
Lentorykmentti 5
Lentorykmentti 19
Lentolaivue 1
Lentolaivue 4
Lentolaivue 6
Lentolaivue 10
Lentolaivue 11
Lentolaivue 12
Lentolaivue 13
Lentolaivue 14
Lentolaivue 15
Lentolaivue 16
Tiedustelulentolaivue 17
Lentolaivue 20
Lentolaivue 21
Lentolaivue 22
Lentolaivue 24
Lentolaivue 25
Lentolaivue 26
Lentolaivue 28
Lentolaivue 29
Lentolaivue 30
Lentolaivue 31
Lentolaivue 32
Lentolaivue 33
Lentolaivue 34
Lentolaivue 35
Lentolaivue 36
Lentolaivue 38
Lentolaivue 39
Lentolaivue 40
Lentolaivue 41
Lentolaivue 42
Lentolaivue 43
Lentolaivue 44
Lentolaivue 45
Lentolaivue 46
Lentolaivue 48
Flying Depot 1
Flying Depot 2
Flying Depot 3
Lentoryhma Sarko

Lapin Lennosto
Satakunnan Lennosto
Karjalan Lennosto
Ilmasotakoulu
Lentosotakoulu
Ilmavoimien Koelentokeskus

Havittajalentolaivue 11
Havittajalentolaivue 21
Havittajalentolaivue 31
Havittajalentolaivue 41
Tukilentolaivue
Kuljetuslentolaivue
Yhteyslentue
Kuljetuslentue
Helikopterilentue

Narrative History
Finnish Air Force

Last updated:

Several aircraft were presented to the Finnish White Army, for use during the 1919-1920 civil war by Swedish pilots and Finnish observers. This unit was known as the Finnish Flying Corps. A French military mission arrived in June 1919 to help re-organise military forces. In 1920 the Finnish Air Force was created as an independent air arm. In 1924 a British military mission arrived to plan future development. The ‘Winter War’ started on 30 November 1939, and ended on 11 March 1940 when Finland accepted Soviet peace terms. On 25 June 1941, following Germany’s launch of ‘Operation Barbarossa’, Finland declared war on Russia. Offensive operations commenced on 30 June 1941 with German assistance, thus starting the ‘Continuation War’. On 4 September 1944 a conditional ceasefire was agreed between Russia and Finland, and peace negotiations initiated. During the period 2 October 1944 to 25 April 1945 Finnish forces drove the German forces out of Finland. A Peace Treaty limiting the size of the air force was signed on 10 February 1947.

Current Order of Battle
Finnish Air Force

Last updated:
Squadron Flight Type Base
Lapin Lennosto (Lapland Air Command)
Hävittäjälentoaivue 11 1st Lentue F-18C/D Rovaniemi
2nd Lentue F-18C/D Rovaniemi
4th Lentue PA-31 Chieftain, Redigo, Vinka Rovaniemi
Satakunnan Lennosto (Satakunta Air Command)
Hävittäjälentoaivue 21 1st Lentue F-18C/D Tampere-Pirkkala
2nd Lentue F-18C/D Tampere-Pirkkala
4th Lentue PA-31 Chieftain, Redigo, Vinka Tampere-Pirkkala
Karjalan Lennosto (Karelia Air Command)
Hävittäjälentoaivue 31 1st Lentue F-18C/D Kuopio-Rissala
2nd Lentue F-18C/D Kuopio-Rissala
4th Lentue PA-31 Chieftain, Redigo, Vinka Kuopio-Rissala
Ilmasotakoulu (Air Force Academy)
Tukilentoaivue 1st Lentue F-27-400, PA-31 Chieftain, Redigo, Vinka Jyväskylä-Luonetjarvi
2nd Lentue Learjet 35A Jyväskylä-Luonetjarvi
3rd Lentue F-27-100 Jyväskylä-Luonetjarvi
Lentosotakoulu
Hävittäjälentoaivue 41 1st Lentue Hawk Kauhava
2nd Lentue Hawk Kauhava
4th Lentue Hawk Kauhava
Koulutuslentoaivue 3rd Lentue Redigo Kauhava
Ilmavoimien Koelentokeskus (Flight Test Centre)
Various Halli

Hävittäjälentoaivue = Fighter Squadron
Koulutuslentoaivue = Training Squadron
Lennosto = Wing
Lentue = Flight
Tukilentoaivue = Air Support Squadron

 

National Markings
Finnish Air Force

Last updated:

This section describes and illustrates the various national insignia used by the Finnish Air Force since its formation:

 
Main MarkingFin Flash

1918-1945
Before 1945 the Finnish national insignia was a light blue swastika on a white disc. The association of this marking with Nazi Germany meant this marking had to be replaced in 1945. The main marking is displayed in the standard six positions on aircraft. A fin flash is not carried. Aircraft did not carry service titles.



 
Main MarkingFin Flash

1945-present
The main marking is displayed on the fuselage sides of the helicopters, and in the standard six positions on aircraft. A fin flash is not carried. Aircraft do not carry service titles.

All-Time Aircraft Used List
Finnish Air Force

Last updated:
Aircraft Type Quantity Service Entry Out of Service Origin
Adaridi AD 3 1 1923 1931 local
Aero A-11 8 1927 1939 Czechoslovakia
Aero A-32 16 1929 1944 Czechoslovakia
Agusta AB206A JetRanger 1 1968 1978 Italy
Airspeed AS.6 Envoy 1 1942 1943 Germany
Albatros B.II 4 1918 1923 Sweden
Albatros C.III 2 1919 1921 Sweden
Arado Ar 196A-3 3 1943 1944 Germany
Avro 504K 1 1926 1930 UK
Avro Anson I 3 1936 1947 UK
Beech C17L Staggerwing 1 1940 1945 Denmark
Beech D17S Staggerwing 1 1951 1958 USA
Beriev MBR-2 2 1941 1942 USSR
Beriev MBR-2bis 3 1941 1942 USSR
Blackburn Ripon IIF 26 1929 1944 UK/local
Bleriot-SPAD S.34-1 2 1921 1925 France
Boeing F-18C Hornet 57 1996 current USA/local
Boeing F-18D Hornet 7 1995 current USA/local
Breguet 14A.2 38 1919 1927 France
Brewster 239 Humu 44 1940 1948 USA/local
British Aerospace Hawk Mk.51/51A 50/7 1980 current UK/local
British Aerospace Hawk Mk.66 18 2009 current Swizerland
Bristol Blenheim I 75 1937 1958 UK/local
Bristol Blenheim IV 22 1940 1958 UK/local
Bristol Bulldog IIA 2 1939 1944 Sweden
Bristol Bulldog IVA 17 1935 1944 UK
Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander 1 1974 1975 UK
CASA C-295 3 2007 current Spain
Caudron C.59 3 1923 1931 France
Caudron C.60 64 1923 1936 France/local
Caudron CR.714 6 1940 1940 Germany
Caudron G.III 19 1920 1924 France/local
Caudron G.IV 1 1922 1922 France
Cessna C-37 Airmaster 1 1939 1943 local
Cessna 402B Utililiner 2 1975 1984 USA
Curtiss Hawk 75A 44 1941 1948 USA/Germany
Curtiss P-40M Warhawk 1 1944 1945 USSR
Curtiss Twin JN 1 1918 1918 USA
de Havilland DH.60G/60X Moth 20 1929 1944 UK/local
de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth 1 1942 1944 Norway
de Havilland DH.86B 1 1940 1940 UK
de Havilland Vampire FB.52 7 1953 1968 UK
de Havilland Vampire T.55 9 1955 1965 UK
De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver 3 1958 1973 Canada
Desoutter II 1 1941 1944 Denmark
D.F.W. C.V 2 1918 1921 Germany
Dornier Do 17Z 15 1942 1948 Germany
Dornier Do 22K-1 4 1942 1944 Germany
Douglas DC-2 1 1940 1955 Sweden
Douglas C-47 Dakota 9 1960 1984 ex-civil
Fairchild 24J DeLuxe 1 1939 1941 local
Farman HF.30 6 1918 1923 USSR
Fiat G.50 Freccia 25 1940 1946 Italy
Fieseler Fi 156K-1 Storch 2 1939 1960 Germany
Focke-Wulf Fw 44J Stieglitz 35 1940 1960 Germany
Focke-Wulf Fw 58 Weihe 1 1943 1944 Germany
Fokker C.VD 2 1940 1944 Norway
Fokker C.VE 17 1927 1945 Netherlands/Sweden
Fokker C.X 39 1937 1958 Netherlands/local
Fokker D.VII 3 1919 1924 Germany
Fokker D.X 1 1923 1926 Netherlands
Fokker D.XXI 97 1937 1948 Netherlands/local
Fokker F.VIIa 1 1941 1943 Denmark
Fokker F.VIII 1 1940 1941 Sweden
Fokker F27-100 Friendship 2 1980 current Netherlands
Fokker F27-400M Troopship 1 1984 2014 Netherlands
Folland Gnat F.1 13 1958 1972 UK
Fouga CM170 Magister 82 1958 1981 France/local
Friedrichshafen FF 33E 3 1918 1923 Germany
Friedrichshafen FF 41A 1 1918 1923 Germany
Friedrichshafen FF 49 1 1918 1922 Germany
Friedrichshafen FF.49C 4 1918 1922 Germany
Georges Levy G.L.40 HB2 12 1919 1922 France
Gloster Gamecock I/II 17 1927 1944 UK/local
Gloster Gauntlet II 24 1940 1945 Sweden
Gloster Gladiator I 12 1940 1940 UK
Gloster Gladiator II 30 1940 1945 Sweden
Gourdou-Leseurre GL-21/GL-22 20 1923 1931 France
Hanriot H-232 3 1941 1945 Germany
Hawker Hart 5 1940 1940 Sweden
Hawker Hurricane I 12 1940 1943 UK
Hawker Hurricane IIB 3 1944 1944 UK
Heinkel He 59 4 1943 1944 Germany
Heinkel He 115A 2 1941 1944 Norway
Heinkel He 115C 1 1943 1944 Germany
Høver M.F.11 3 1941 1944 Norway
Hughes 500D 8 1975 1997 USA
Ilyushin DB-3M/Il-4 11/4 1940 1945 USSR/Germany
Ilyushin Il-28 Beagle 4 1960 1981 USSR
I.V.L. A.22 Hansa 120 1922 1936 local
I.V.L C.VI.25 1 1925 1925 local
I.V.L C.24 1 1924 1924 local
I.V.L D.26 Haukka I 1 1927 1927 local
I.V.L D.27 Haukka II 2 1928 1930 local
I.V.L K.1 Kurki 1 1927 1927 local
Junkers A 35 1 1928 1928 Germany
Junkers A 50 Junior 2 1936 1940 local
Junkers F.13ke 1 1940 1947 Sweden
Junkers F.13fe 2 1939 1947 Germany
Junkers K 43f 6 1931 1953 Sweden
Junkers W 34 6 1930 1953 Germany
Junkers Ju 88A-4 24 1943 1948 Germany
Koolhoven F.K.31 12 1926 1932 Netherlands/local
Koolhoven F.K.52 2 1940 1943 Sweden
Lavochkin LaGG-3 3 1943 1945 USSR
Learjet 35A 3 1982 current USA
Letov S 218 A4 Smolik 39 1930 1945 Czechoslovakia/local
Liore et Oliver H-246-1 2 1944 1944 France?
LVG C.VI 2 1922 1923 ex-civil
Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard 15 1923 1939 UK
Messerschmitt Bf 109G 162 1943 1954 Germany
Mikoyan MiG-15UTI 4 1962 1977 USSR
Mikoyan MiG-21bis Fishbed N 26 1977 1998 USSR
Mikoyan MiG-21F-13 Fishbed C 22 1963 1986 USSR
Mikoyan MiG-21U Mongol A 2 1965 1985 USSR
Mikoyan MiG-21UM Mongol B 2 1973 1998 USSR
Mikoyan MiG-21US Mongol B 2 1981 1997 USSR
Mil Mi-4 Hound 3 1962 1979 USSR
Mil Mi-8 Hip 10 1973 1997 USSR
Morane-Saulnier Parasol L 2 1918 1918 Sweden
Morane-Saulnier MS.50C 6 1925 1932 France
Morane-Saulnier MS.406C1 77 1940 1948 France
Morane-Saulnier MS.410 10 1940 1948 Germany
Nieuport 10 3 1918 1919 USSR
Nieuport 17 2 1918 1924 USSR
Nieuport 21 1 1918 1920 USSR
Percival Pembroke C.53 2 1956 1968 UK
Petlyakov Pe-2 7 1942 1946 Germany
Petlyakov Pe-3 1 1942 1946 Germany
Pilatus PC-12NG 6 2010 current Switzerland
Piper PA-28 Cherokee Arrow 10 1974 2004 USA
Piper PA-31 Navajo Chieftain 7 1974 2011 USA
Polikarpov I-15bis 5 1940 1945 USSR
Polikarpov I-16 6 1940 1943 USSR
Polikarpov I-153 21 1940 1945 USSR/Germany
Polikarpov U-2/Po-2 Mule 4 1942 1950 USSR
Polikarpov UTI-4 1 1942 1942 USSR
Potez 25A2 1 1927 1936 France
Raab-Katzenstein RK26 Tigerschwalbe 1 1940 1940 Sweden
Rumpler 6B 2 1918 1926 Germany
Rumpler C.VIII 1 1918 1924 Germany
SAAB 17A 2 1959 1960 Sweden
SAAB J 35A/B Draken 2 1974 1985 Sweden
SAAB J 35BS Draken 6 1972 1997 Sweden
SAAB J 35FS Draken 25 1976 2000 Sweden
SAAB J 35XS Draken 12 1974 1998 local
SAAB Sk 35CS Draken 5 1976 2000 Sweden
SAAB 91D Safir 35 1958 1982 Sweden
Schavrov Sch-2 2 1942 1944 USSR
Shchetinin M-5 1 1918 1920 USSR
Shchetinin M-9 Devjatka 9 1918 1922 USSR
Shchetinin M-15 2 1918 1919 USSR
Shchetinin M-16 6 1918 1923 USSR
SIAI S.9 2 1919 1920 Italy
SPAD S.VII 1 1919 1923 France
SPAD S.34 2 1921 1925 France
Sud Aviation SE3130 Alouette II 2 1966 1975 France
Svenska ASJA J 6 Jaktfalken II 3 1940 1945 Sweden
Thulin LA 1 1918 1919 Sweden
Thulin Type D 2 1918 1919 Sweden
Tupolev SB-2/SB-3 24 1940 1945 USSR/Germany
Valmet L-70 Vinka 31 1982 2011 local
Valmet L-80TP Turbo-Vinka 1 1985 1985 local
Valmet L-90TP Redigo 10 1992 current local
Valmet Tuuli II 1 1951 1951 local
Valmet Tuuli III 1 1957 1959 local
Valmet Vihuri I 1 1951 19?? local
Valmet Vihuri II 30 1953 1959 local
Valmet Vihuri III 20 1956 1959 local
V.L. Kotka I 1 1930 1945 local
V.L. Kotka II 5 1931 1953 local
V.L. Myrsky 1 1943 1944 local
V.L. Myrsky I 3 1943 1944 local
V.L. Myrsky II 47 1944 1947 local
V.L. Paarma 1 1931 1933 local
V.L. Pyorremyrsky 1 1945 1947 local
V.L. Pyry I 1 1939 1962 local
V.L. Pyry II 40 1940 1962 local
V.L. Saaski I 1 1928 19?? local
V.L. Saaski II 11 1929 1943 local
V.L. Saaski IIA 22 1930 1943 local
V.L. Tuisku 2 1935 1937 local
V.L. Tuisku I 13 1935 1950 local
V.L. Tuisku II 16 1935 1950 local
V.L. Viima I 2 1936 1962 local
V.L. Viima IIA 22 1939 1962 local
Waco ZQC-6 1 1940 1940 Sweden
Westland Lysander I 3 1940 1941 UK
Westland Lysander III 9 1940 1945 UK
WSK SM-1 4 1961 1966 Poland

Additional information is welcome

Current Aircraft Inventory
Finnish Air Force

Last updated:
Aircraft Type Total Del’d Total Active Still on Order Role
Boeing F-18C Hornet 57 54 0 Interception
CASA C-295 3 3 4 Transport/EW
Fokker F27-400M 1 1 0 EW
Learjet 35A 3 3 0 EW Trainer/Target Tug
Pilatus PC-12NG 6 6 0 Liaison
Boeing F-18D Hornet 7 7 0 Trainer
British Aerospace Hawk Mk.51/51A 57 27 0 Trainer/Recce
British Aerospace Hawk Mk.66 18 18 0 Trainer/Recce
Valmet L-90TP Redigo 10 9 0 Liaison