British airpower flexes muscle near Russia

British F-35B Lightning jets have flown sorties over Finland for the first time, launched from HMS Prince of Wales as part of NATO’s premier air warfare exercise, according to the Royal Navy.

The fifth-generation jets of 809 Naval Air Squadron, alongside Merlin and Wildcat helicopters, all operating from the flight deck of the Portsmouth-based carrier, provided the United Kingdom’s principal aerial contribution to Ramstein Flag 26.

The 11-day exercise drew together up to 150 NATO aircraft from 18 nations across 20 locations stretching from Norway to Spain, with the UK Carrier Strike Group, comprising HMS Prince of Wales, destroyer HMS Duncan and tanker RFA Tidespring, operating in the North Sea throughout. Around 150 sorties were flown daily.

The scenario tested the alliance’s ability to respond rapidly and cohesively to an attack on a member state, triggering Article 5 and demanding a response from all member nations. With Finland having joined NATO in April 2023, the country’s airspace and infrastructure are now firmly part of the alliance’s defence planning, and the exercise gave allied air forces an opportunity to integrate operations across the Nordic region at scale. The choice of Finland as a primary operating area carries weight given the country’s long border with Russia, which more than doubled the length of NATO’s direct frontier with Moscow when Helsinki acceded to the alliance.

Tankers providing air-to-air refuelling extended the range of the Lightning jets for sustained, long-range missions deep into Europe, with sorties operating 700 miles or more from the carrier, according to the Royal Navy. The 809 Naval Air Squadron jets made use of the facilities at Pirkkala air base near Tampere, about 100 miles north of Helsinki, while United States Marine Corps F-35Bs participating in the same exercise demonstrated the more unusual capability of landing on, refuelling at and taking off from Finnish highways, a dispersed operations technique designed to complicate targeting by an adversary.

Commodore Richard Hewitt, Commander UK Carrier Strike Group, said the deployment carried a deliberate signal. “The seamless coordination of our Carrier Strike Group with 18 Allied partners during Exercise Ramstein Flag is a powerful testament to the skill of our sailors and aviators,” he said, as quoted by the Royal Navy. He continued: “The UK Carrier Strike Group is fully integrated into NATO’s frontline defence. Operating under NATO command, the fifth-generation capability we are generating from HMS Prince of Wales delivers a deliberate message to any potential adversary: together, the Royal Navy and our allies provide the precise, synchronised combat power required to secure the Northern Flank.”