US F-35s Landed on NATO Ally Finland’s Highway for the First Time

Gen. James Hecker, the USAFE-AFAFRICA commander, said “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.”

“The opportunity to learn from our Finnish counterparts improves our ability to rapidly deploy and employ air power from unconventional locations and reflects the collective readiness and the agility of our forces,” Hecker added.

Though the landing was a first for the US, F-35s have previously landed on highways on the continent. European ally Norway was, for instance, the first to operate F-35As on a highway.

While the moment this week was a historic first, the concept of using highways to operate military aircraft is nothing new. It is a tactic Finland has long embraced and something the US and other allies are increasingly looking to given the threats to fixed airbases.

For the US, the concept of operating military aircraft on highways is a larger part of the Agile Combat Employment efforts, which are focused on dispersing air forces to both traditional and non-traditional airstrips in a manner that makes it more difficult for enemies to eliminate airpower.

The first demonstration of this concept in the US came in 2021, when the US Air Force landed an A-10 Thunderbolt II attack plane on a highway in Michigan. There had been other similar activities carried out in Europe, but that was a first on US soil.

Since then, the military has also landed a MC-130J Commando II, a MQ-9 Reaper drone, and MH-6M Little Bird helicopters on a highway in Wyoming, as well as a Reaper drone on a dirt strip in Texas. The Air Force is even looking at what landing on a beach would look like.

The US has also landed its fifth-gen F-35s on highways, though only at home, unlike the recent training operations in Europe. In August 2023, the Marines landed an F-35B on the Old Pacific Coast Highway in Southern California.

The Pentagon has repeatedly assessed that this capability is especially important for potential conflicts with Russia and China, as preemptive strike capabilities, such as from China’s missile force, could render traditional airbases and runways inoperable.