In a major milestone, two US Air Force F-35 Lightning II aircraft assigned to the 48th Fighter Wing, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, UK, executed a historic, austere landing on a pre-designated highway in Finland.
The service performed the landing exercise on September 4 during exercise BAANA 2024.
The austere landing demonstrates advancements in the NATO Alliance’s ability to perform operations under the US Air Force’s agile combat employment concept and promotes closer integration among Allied forces.
Growing relationship
“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,” said Gen. James Hecker, commander of US Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa.
“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.”
Since Finland’s accession to NATO in 2023, US Airmen have had significant opportunities to learn from their Finnish counterparts.
Among the most recent activities, the Finnish Air Force was among nine national air forces to participate in the 1v1 air superiority exercise held in June at Ramstein.
During that event, fighter aircraft and pilots from the nine nations participated in a series of aerial combat simulations.
Tech Refresh 3-equipped F-35s
In late August, Lockheed Martin began delivering software for Tech Refresh 3-equipped F-35s that will allow pilots to train more comprehensively for future missions, the Joint Program Office announced.
However, the software still needs full TR-3 capability, and Lockheed is being docked some of its final delivery payments accordingly.
The JPO and Lockheed “have reached an agreement for the acceptance and delivery” of TR-3-enabled aircraft “with robust training capability,” a program spokesperson said.
He said the JPO and Lockheed have agreed to “terms and conditions” for deliveries and software releases but have not elaborated on them.
As many as 100 F-35s had been in storage for up to a year before deliveries resumed mid-July.
They had been completed but not delivered because the TR-3 upgrade—processors, displays, and other improvements—has not been fully tested.
To get deliveries moving again, the F-35 partners agreed early in the summer to accept a “truncated” version of the TR-3 software. JPO director Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt determined the software was safe for flight in July.
The TR-3 is the basis for the F-35’s Block 4 upgrade, which includes more than 80 improvements related to electronic warfare, navigation and communications, and weapons.
However, the full TR-3 software package is still not expected to be fielded until early next year.
In addition, the JPO said Lockheed and its F-35 partners are “making significant investments in development labs and digital infrastructure that benefit the F-35 enterprise’s speed and agility in fielding [new] capabilities” for the fighter.
The announcement comes a day after Lockheed received F-35 contracts valued at just over $5 billion covering a range of F-35-related items such as simulators and training devices, sustainment, engineering, material support supplies, repair capabilities, and depot equipment.
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