Summary and What You Need to Know: In a historic exercise, U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II fighters landed on a highway in Finland during the BAANA 2024 exercise, showcasing their ability to operate from austere locations.

-The exercise, a joint operation with NATO member Finland, highlighted the advancements in agile combat employment and interoperability between U.S. and Finnish forces.

-The Finnish Air Force holds annual road-base exercises to train pilots and maintainers for remote operations, with U.S. F-35s joining for the first time.

Key Point: The event demonstrated the F-35's versatility, continuing a trend of U.S. military aircraft performing landings on highways, as seen in other recent exercises.

F-35s Landed on a Highway in Finland

The United States Air Force F-35 Lightning II multirole fighters regularly take part in joint operations with allies and partner nations around the world, but the exercise on Wednesday was the first for the service's fifth-generation stealth aircraft. A pair of Lightning IIs from the 48th Fighter Wing, based at Royal Air Force (RAF) Lakenheath, United Kingdom, took part in the BAANA 2024 exercise with NATO member Finland.

The aircraft "executed a historic, austere landing on a pre-designed highway," the U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa announced. "The austere landing demonstrates advancements in the NATO alliance's ability to perform operations under the U.S. Air Force's agile combat employment concept and promotes closer integration among allied forces." 

It further highlighted the capabilities of the F-35.

"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," said Gen. James Hecker, commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. "The opportunity to learn from our Finnish counterparts improves our ability to rapidly deploy and employ airpower from unconventional locations and reflects the collective readiness and the agility of our forces."

Road Work For Pilots

BAANA is an annual road-base exercise that is carried out by the Finnish Air Force to ensure the readiness of pilots and maintainers to operate from remote locations. Though this marked the first time U.S. Air Force F-35s took part, the fifth-generation fighters operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNAF) F-35s took part in the BAANA 2023 exercise last September. It was the first time that the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter had landed and then took off from a highway.

The Norwegian F-35s are equipped with a distinguishing special fairing on the upper rear fuselage between the vertical tail, which houses an aircraft's drag chute. The chute can used to rapidly decelerate the aircraft after landing on icy runways under icy conditions. However, as TheAviationist.com reported, it didn't appear that the aircraft employed the chutes. 

The Lightning IIs were joined in last year's exercise by Eurofighter Typhoons operated by the UK's Royal Air Force (RAF) and Finnish Air Force (FAF) F/A-18 fighters.

The U.S. Increasing Austere Landings

In August 2023, a United States Marine Corps F-35B successfully landed on a remote highway in Southern California, was refueled and rearmed, and then took off again. It was part of training for potential future operations in the Pacific. These recent exercises have further highlighted the capabilities of the Lightning II and its ability to truly operate anywhere in the world in almost any conditions.

It was also last month, in a historic first that the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) successfully landed an AC-130J Ghostrider Gunship on a highway in Arkansas during the Emerald Warrior Field Training Exercise II.

The U.S. military doesn't need runways where their aircraft are going – they just need roads!

Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].

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