Seven Finnish Air Force F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets have landed at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base near Constanta in southeastern Romania for the first time since they joined NATO last year.
It’s their first deployment under NATO’s Air Shielding mission and will see them conducting training and sorties along the eastern flank on the Black Sea coast.
„Our objective here in Romania is to enhance our integration into NATO Air Power by honing and deepening our cooperation with the Royal Air Force and the Romanian Air Force,” said the leader of the Finnish mission.
“For two months the Finnish jets are joining a Royal Air Force Typhoon detachment and will be doing quick-reaction alert duty and flying alongside them and Romanian F-16s collectively securing NATO airspace and assuring the Romanian population,” said Lieutenant Colonel Rami Lindström, the first commander of the Finnish detachment a Mihail Kogalniceanu.
“Our objective here in Romania is to enhance our integration into NATO Air Power by honing and deepening our cooperation with the Royal Air Force and the Romanian Air Force”, he added underscoring the deployment as a milestone towards further developing “our capability to operate from another Allied air base.”
Consisting of seven F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets and less than 100 airmen the detachment’s first goal will be achieving full operational readiness. Together with the RAF Typhoons they participate in NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) exercise Ramstein Legacy in June which provides further opportunities for boosting interoperability in Allied Air Command’s major IAMD exercise.
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