A Luftwaffe Eurofighter departs a dedicated stretch of highway in Finland as the service and the wider NATO alliance look to revamp their ACE off-base capabilities. (Luftwaffe)
Germany's Luftwaffe has deployed Eurofighter combat aircraft to Finland as part of a wider revamp of its Agile Combat Employment (ACE) capabilities.
Three Eurofighters from Tactical Air Force Wing 71 ‘Richthofen' based at Laage deployed to Exercise ‘Baana 2024' in Finland in early September as the Luftwaffe and the wider NATO alliance look to reconstitute the concept of off-base operations that was largely lost at the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s.
“For the [Luftwaffe], this [ACE] capability is gaining in importance again. In the context of [NATO] alliance defence, it is necessary to adapt to the circumstances of the partner countries,” the service said of its participation in the multinational exercise in Rovaniemi, in the north of Finland. For the event, the Luftwaffe Eurofighters operated alongside US Air Force (USAF) Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II and Finnish Air Force (FiAF) Boeing F/A-18C Hornet aircraft.
For the Luftwaffe, Exercise ‘Baana 2024' was largely about relearning the capabilities of the past. “Today they are hardly recognisable, but at times during the Cold War Germany had several emergency landing sites on [national] motorways. In an emergency, these specially developed motorway sections would have to [be used as] runways so that military aircraft could have operated from there in a decentralised manner. The aim behind the concept of decentralisation and dispersion of the air forces is to protect aircraft on the ground and to support their infrastructure, such as [fuel] farms and command-and-control systems. Due to the high number of military and civil airfields, this procedure lost its importance […] in the 1980s,” the service said.
Looking to read the full article?
Gain unlimited access to Janes news and more...
