F-35A fighter jets serving in the Royal Norwegian Air Force did something that had never been tried before and landed on a highway for the first time. The training, which was given to pilots to provide them with the skills to conduct highway operations, was carried out as part of the Baana 23 exercise in southern Finland.The location used during the training was the section of local highway 551 between the towns of Karttula and Tervo. After landing, the F-35s were refueled with their engines running and the warplanes quickly took off again. The ability to take off and land from a highway is extremely necessary due to the variety of conditions that may arise during combat operations.
“This is a turning point”
Hostile forces can destroy conventional airstrips during conflict and make planning military operations difficult. For this reason, the ability of military aircraft to take off and land quickly using highways becomes very important.
Major General Rolf Folland, Commander of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, said: “This is a turning point not only for the Norwegian Air Force, but also for the Scandinavian countries and NATO. This shows our ability to implement the dispersion concept. Fighter aircraft are vulnerable on the ground, so they use small airfields.” “And now we can increase our war survivability by using highways,” he said.
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