USAF F-35As conduct first roadway operations in Europe

One of a pair of US Air Force F-35As touches down on a roadway in Finland, marking a first for the type in United States service. (US Air Force)

The US Air Force (USAF) conducted the first roadway operations of its Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II combat aircraft in Europe on 4 September.

Two aircraft from the 48th Fighter Wing at Royal Air Force (RAF) Lakenheath in the UK landed and departed from a dedicated roadway in Finland during Exercise ‘Baana 2024'. This European-based event marked the first time that the USAF had conducted roadway operations of its F-35As anywhere in the world.

“The austere landing demonstrates advancements in the NATO alliance's ability to perform operations under the US Air Force's Agile Combat Employment [ACE] concept, and promotes closer integration among allied forces,” US Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE – AFA) said.

ACE is a NATO concept of operations geared at providing the means to deploy rapidly between dispersed operating locations without sacrificing combat capabilities. While it was fairly commonplace across the alliance during the Cold War, it largely fell out of favour with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. As Russia's belligerence towards the West has increased over recent years, the concept has gradually come back into favour, with Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine in 2022 driving a concerted push across NATO to reintroduce the concept back into its operational doctrines.

Speaking to Janes