Road trips and refuelling in Finland
September 5, 2024
It’s exercise season for the Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force), and, as a new and strategically vital NATO member, Finland is clocking up a number of ‘firsts’.
During Exercise Baana 24 Luftwaffe (German Air Force) Eurofighter Typhoons and United States Air Force F-35A Lightning IIs operated from the Hosio highway strip in Ranua for the first time. This accorded Ilmavoimat personnel an opportunity to see the F-35A (selected for Finland as the winner of the HX competition) at close quarters – as well as the Typhoon that was a close second in that contest.
Another recent drill, Exercise Ilmataktiikka 24, saw Finnish F/A-18 Hornet fighters refuelling from an MC-130J Commando II aircraft deployed from the 352nd Special Operations Wing at RAF Mildenhall in the UK.
Finland achieves remarkable ‘bang’ for its defence ‘buck’ – fielding Europe’s most impressive artillery force, maintaining sensible war stocks, and with well worked-out and sensible war plans. It is to be hoped that NATO partners exercising in Finland are having a good hard look at what Finland achieves, and are learning lessons.
