The historic first landing and takeoff of an F-35 fighter on a highway in Europe

Recently, during the BAANA 2024 multinational exercise held in Finland, a new milestone in military aviation occurred.

The Polish Air Force exercise to operate on roads in case of attack
Dispersed operations, the advantage of the Swedish Gripen against an attack on its bases

For years, countries such as Finland, Sweden, Germany and Poland have been preparing to deploy their aircraft on civilian roads in case their bases were attacked in the event of war. This is what is known as "dispersed operations", for which Swedish fighters have been specially adapted for decades.

Like their Swedish neighbours, Finnish Air Force F/A-18Cs have been practising such scattered operations for years. The entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and following Putin's threats of invasion against those two Nordic countries, has allowed the Atlantic Alliance to benefit from the long experience of the Finns and Swedes in this type of deployment.

On September 4, for the first time, a fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter jet landed on a European highway, namely the Hosio Highway in the Finnish municipality of Ranua. The aircraft that carried out this landing was a US Air Force F-35A, specifically from the 48th Fighter Wing, based at RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom.

"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 General James Hecker, commander of the USAF in Europe and 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", he added.

For the USAF, it is important to have the ability to operate from improvised runways such as the one used in this exercise, since the US Air Force does not use the F-35B version, designed for short takeoffs and vertical landings (STOVL). In the United States, that version of the F-35 is used exclusively by the Marines, while the USAF uses the F-35A, designed for conventional takeoffs and landings on land runways.

The US Army has released a video of this exercise, which includes footage of the US F-35A landing as well as operations by Finnish F/A-18Cs and BAe Hawks and a German Eurofighter:

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Photos: NATO.