Norwegian F-35 Fighters Conducted Allied Training with American B-2 Bombers
“Being able to cooperate seamlessly with our most important allies and for the F-35 to work within a joint operative framework is very important for the air force. The F-35’s are a resource for the entire armed forces, which these assignments demonstrate in full”, says Major-General Folland, Chief of the Norwegian Air Force. (Photo: Norwegian Armed Forces)
On Monday and Wednesday last week, the 332 squadron based in Evenes conducted training with two American B-2 bombers operating out of Iceland.
This is the first time ever that the new generation of fighers, the F-35’s, have operated out from Evenes Airport. Evenes is the QRA base for Norway's new F-35 fighters, which will take over when the F-16's are phased out and their base in Bodø is shut down at the end of the year.
The main focus of the training was seamless information exchange between land and air forces both during planning and the conducting of complex fifth-generation air operations, according to a press statement from the Norwegian Armed Forces.
“Firstly, this goes to show how far we have come already when it comes to conducting complex operations and integrating F-35 both with our most important allied as well as with forces in our own defense, completely independent of location. Secondly, this training demonstrates what is already possible to do from Evenes, which is hosting the F-35 for the first time ever”, says Lieutenant-Colonel Tron Strand, Chief of the 332 squadron.
The flying exercises happened prior to Russia’s massive military exercise Zapad 2021, which will take place between 9 and 16 September and includes more than 200,000 military personnel.
Also read
This article was originally published in Norwegian and has been translated by HNN's Elisabeth Bergquist.