Finnish and French Fighter Aircrafts Train Together in Northern Finland
A Finnish F/A-18 fighter planes and two French Rafales. (Photo: the Finnish Air Force)
The exercise provides French fighter pilots the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the Finnish Air Force and the Arctic conditions in the High North.
Finnish F/A-18 Hornets and French Rafale fighters are training together in the Täppä 22-exercise in Northern Finland.
The yearly exercise is conducted by Lapland Air Command's Fighter Squadron 11 and it will be carried out from the air bases Rovaniemi and Oulunsalo in Northern Finland.
Lapland's Air Command is the Finnish Air Force unit responsible for the protection of the air space in Northern Finland. The Air Command's headquarters are located by the Rovaniemi Airport.
The exercise will especially focus on training the youngest F/A-18 Hornet pilots. This year, the exercise will also involve two French Rafale fighter planes, as part of the Finnish Defense Forces' training with international partners, the Finnish Air Forces write in a press release.
"For the French personnel, the exercise provides an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the Finnish Air Force and the Arctic conditions in the High North," says Exercise Director, Lieutenant Colonel Markku Vihersalo.
"This year, thanks to the French participation, we can train also international cooperation and fly dissimilar air combat training," he continues.
This article was originally published in Norwegian and has been translated by Birgitte Annie Molid Martinussen.