Three Royal Air Force (RAF) Eurofighter Typhoon jets have landed in Finland to participate in the United States-led exercise Swift Response 23.
The RAF Typhoon jets have been deployed from Romania to Finland to showcase the agility of NATO air assets in responding to evolving security challenges.
Operating under NATO’s Agile Combat Employment concept, the Typhoon jets, accompanied by a 50-strong support detachment, are poised to engage in sorties from Tikkakoski Air Base, Finland.
“We’re taking part in a number of training sorties, which allows us to perform an agile combat employment demonstrating the UK’s capability to quickly move air assets around to where they’re most needed at any given time and return quickly onto the original tasking,” said Squadron Leader Nick Morrison-Smith, Detachment Commander for the RAF participation in the Swift Response exercise.
The Typhoon jets were previously involved in NATO’s enhanced Air Policing missions in Romania. As the exercise progresses, the RAF contingent will return to the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania, where they will collaborate with their Romanian counterparts to safeguard the skies.
Agile Combat Employment is a doctrine that aims to equip NATO air forces with the skills necessary to operate in challenging and resource-constrained environments. The program ensures interoperability among all airbases within the alliance. It also enables tactics such as dispersed operations where air assets are spread across multiple locations, making it difficult for enemies to target them.
In 2023, the Finnish Air Force welcomed RAF Typhoons and Royal Norwegian Air Force F-35s to its annual road base exercise, Baana 23. During the training, they shared knowledge on the practice of highway strip take-offs and landings in both day and night-time conditions.
