It had never happened before. Two Lockheed Martin F-35As landed on the highway in Tervo, central Finland. During a military exercise, fighters from the Royal Norwegian Air Force landed on Thursday afternoon to refuel hot pit, that is, while the aircraft’s engines are running, allowing them to reduce the vulnerable time when they are on the ground in times of war.
Here is a video of the first landing @Finnish Air Force @BORN pic.twitter.com/M3zDlXrPzR
-Norwegian Armed Forces | Forsvaret (@Forsvaret_no) September 21, 2023
“This is a milestone. Not only for the Norwegian Air Force, but also for the Scandinavian countries and NATO. This demonstrates our ability to implement a dispersal concept,” said Rolf Folland, Major General of the Royal Norwegian Air Force.
Taking into account that combatants are in a vulnerable situation when on the ground, “the ability to use small airfields – and now highways – increases our chances of survivability in war,” Folland explained in a statement from the Norwegian Air Force.
For example, in a war scenario, this military maneuver will reduce the time that fighters are vulnerable on the ground during refueling. hot pit in more accessible locations.
“The purpose of the concept is to make it more challenging for an enemy to shoot down our aircraft when it is on the ground. For such a concept to work, we need to map out all the possibilities and put them into practice “, said Folland.
This unprecedented feat took place in Finland, which, remember, became a member of NATO in April this year.
“Finland has been a close partner for a long time and now also an ally. Thanks to the straight and wide highways, we can further develop our distribution concept,” the major general explained about the country that shares about 1,300 kilometers of border with Russia.
The unprecedented landing of the two Norwegian fighter jets is “a demonstration of the exciting development” initiated “in the framework of military air cooperation in the Nordic region”.
The landing took place on Thursday afternoon, after joint training with Finnish F-18s.
According to the Royal Norwegian Air Force, immediately after landing, “refueling took place while the engines were running – called ‘hotpit refueling’. Shortly afterwards the F-35s took off and were ready for new missions.”
Norwegian Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram stated that “with the accession of Finland to NATO and the impending accession of Sweden, the Nordic countries have a special responsibility in developing and coordinating NATO’s deterrence in the northern regions “, said Norwegian Defense Minister Bjørn. Arild Gram.
“The future air defense of the Nordic countries will consist of more than 200 combat aircraft. It is important that we are developing Scandinavian cooperation in the field of military air operations,” Gram emphasizes.
The Norwegian Air Force recalled that the US has already carried out this type of maneuver on highways with some of its F-35Bs, as they can carry out the operation vertically.
Source: DN
