Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of readiness formations for wartime conditions.

This aircraft, the first to arrive from Sweden, was flown via Haparanda on 25 February 1918 by Swedish pilot John-Allan Hygerth (who on 10 March became the first commander of the Finnish Air Force) and Per Svanbäck.

The aircraft made a stop at Kokkola and had to make a forced landing in Jakobstad when its engine broke down.

Swedish count Eric von Rosen gave the Finnish White government its second aircraft, a Thulin Typ D.[3] Von Rosen, later one of the founding members of the Nationalsocialistiska Blocket ("National Socialist Bloc"), a Swedish National Socialist political party, and brother-in-law to Hermann Goering,[4][5] had painted his personal good-luck charm on the Thulin Type D aircraft.

This logo – a blue swastika, the ancient symbol of the sun and of good luck, which was back then still used with non-political connotations – gave rise to the insignia of the Finnish Air Force.

The FAF changed its aircraft insignia, which resembled the swastika of the Third Reich, after 1944 due to an Allied Control Commission decree,[7] which prohibited fascist organizations.

[2] Its pilot, Lieutenant Nils Kindberg, flew the aircraft to Vaasa on 6 March 1918, carrying von Rosen as a passenger.

On 7 September 1920, two newly purchased Savoia flying boats crashed in the Swiss Alps en route to Finland, killing all on-board (three Finns and one Italian).

The two-letter code usually refers to the aircraft manufacturer or model, such as HN for F/A-18 Hornet, DK for Saab 35 Draken, VN for Valmet Vinka etc.

The Winter War began on 30 November 1939, when the Soviet Air Force bombed 21 Finnish cities and municipalities.

The Soviet Union had an estimated c. 5,000 aircraft in 1939, and of these, some 700 fighters and 800 medium bombers came to the Finnish front to support the Red Army's operations.

As with most aerial bombardments in the early stages of World War II, the damage to Finnish industry and railways was quite limited.

The primary fighter aircraft, the Fokker D.XXI, featured a cheap but maneuverable design with fabric-covered fuselage and fixed landing-gear.

The Finnish Air Force included numerous American, British, Czechoslovakian, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Soviet, and Swedish designs.

Soviet fighters were usually superior in firepower, speed and agility, and Finnish pilots avoided them unless the enemy was in a disadvantageous position.

As a result of these tactics, the Finnish Air Force managed to shoot down 218 Soviet aircraft during the Winter War while losing only 47 to enemy fire.

Politics had also played a role, since Hitler did not wish to antagonize the Soviet Union by allowing aircraft exports through German-controlled territory during the Winter War.

In addition to Fokker fighters and Bristol Blenheim bombers built under license, new aircraft types were in place by the time hostilities with Soviet Union resumed in 1941.

Small numbers of Hawker Hurricanes arrived from the United Kingdom, Morane-Saulnier M.S.406s from France, Fiat G.50s from Italy, and one liaison aircraft.

German Bf 109s replaced the Brewster as the primary front-line fighter of the FAF in 1943, though the Buffalos continued in secondary roles until the end of the fighting.

Other types, including the Italian Fiat G.50 and Curtiss Hawk 75, also proved capable in the hands of well-trained Finnish pilots.

The principle reconnaissance type was the German Arado Ar 196, which had been purchased in 1943 and continued to serve throughout the war, though by mid-1944 the planes' pre-war roots were showing and were subsequently modified to a later A-5 model in an attempt to stave off obsolescence.

Dornier Do 17s (received as a gift from Hermann Göring in 1942) and Junkers Ju 88s improved the bombing capability of the Finnish Air Force.

Finland was required to expel or intern remaining German forces as part of its peace agreement with the Soviets in September 1944.

After leading Finnish politicians held unofficial talks with their Swedish counterparts, Sweden began storing surplus Saab 35 Drakens, intended for transfer to Finland in the event of a war against the Soviet Union.

[15] In the 1990s, with the Cold War over, the Finnish Air Force ended its policy of purchasing Soviet/Russian aircraft and replaced the Saab Draken and MiG-21s in its fighter wing with US F/A-18C/D Hornets.

Pilot training takes place at the Air Force Academy in Tikkakoski, with advanced conversion performed at squadron level.

The Finnish MoD initiated its Hornet replacement programme in June 2015, and named it the "HX Fighter Program".

[20] In December 2015 the Finnish MoD sent a letter to Britain, France, Sweden and the US informing them that the fighter project had been launched in the Defence Forces.

The first weapons package will include AIM-9X Block II+ Sidewinder and AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM missiles, and later on air-to-ground weaponry will be obtained when they reach sufficient maturity and will match their shelf life with the introduction of the aircraft.