The United States Air Force F-35 Lightning II aircraft of the 48th Fighter Wing stationed at the RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom is said to have made austere landings on a highway in Finland during an exercise deemed the biggest military display of capabilities of its kind ever – BAANA 2024 – as the annual exercise for road base exercise aimed at creating expeditionary capabilities and dispersed operations.
F-35s are flying over Europe for the first time, and for that, they are deploying at the Hosio Highway strip in Ranua, Finland.
During the exercise, Eurofighter jets from Germany and F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets from Finland also took part, thus strengthening interoperability among NATO allies.
General James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa, emphasized the significance of this achievement. “The successful first-ever landing of our fifth-generation F-35 on a highway in Europe is a testament to the growing relationship and close interoperability we have with our Finnish allies,” he stated.
Hecker highlighted that learning from Finnish counterparts enhances the ability to rapidly deploy and employ airpower from unconventional locations, reflecting the collective readiness and agility of allied forces.
On Aug 31 – 6 September, the BAANA 2024 exercise used the Norvatie highway strip in Rovaniemi and the Hosio highway strip in Ranua as a temporary runway.
This exercise forms part of the U.S. Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment ACE concept that appears to enhance survivability and combat power by operating from dispersed and austere locations.
Lt. Col. Dustin Merritt, a director of operations for the 493rd Fighter Squadron, was seen to comment on how challenging yet crucial such operations can be. You have to land on something less than 100 feet wide highway is a pretty tricky operation, and it’s an ACE-essential operation for us, he said.
The ability to land on short, austere landing strips builds confidence and demonstrates you can get to those austere landing sites, said Capt. Jordan Kendall, an F-35 pilot with the 493rd FS.
The exercise further included the first highway hot pit refueling of the United States Air Force F-35A in Europe by the 435th Contingency Response Support Squadron.
An operation that demonstrated the ability to rapidly refuel and rearm in non-traditional environments and, thus, added a higher degree of flexibility and unpredictability to allied air operations.
The U.S. F-35s training with Finnish and German forces demonstrates an ability and commitment to collective security, the seamless operation with allies from NATO nations, as well as, as highlighted by Lt. Col. Merritt, that the capability for operation from highways makes operations less predictable for adversaries and increases operational flexibility.
The BAANA 2024 exercise exposed not only the advanced capabilities of the F-35 but also such close transatlantic relations among allied air forces.
Exercise director and commander of the Lapland Air Wing Finnish Air Force Col. Saku Joukas emphasized, that this type of exercise shows top expertise to allies, and, between countries, there’s an opportunity for mutual learning.
These exercises are highly critical for NATO, so it can posture itself appropriately in the changing threat landscape, and exercises like BAANA 2024 will enhance the readiness, responsiveness, and interoperability between allied forces. The successful highway landings of U.S. Air Force F-35s in Finland are one such mile marker in the pursuit of agile flexible air operations.