Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Air Wargames:Arctic Challenge Exercise 2019

The biennial air warfare exercise between the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO) and NATO Allies will soon begin in Scandinavia.More than 100 aircraft and 1,000 personnel from nine countries will stage one of the biggest air exercises in Europe from 22 May-4 June 2019.Participating will be:
Denmark,Finland,France,Germany,the Netherlands,Norway,Sweden,the UK and the US.
The drills will be staged over the northernmost reaches of NORDEFCO.This iteration of ACE is being led by the Swedish Air Force,which will plan and direct the exercise.Bases involved include Bodo and Orland,Norway;Lulea,Sweden;and Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle,Finland.ACE 19 enables the large-scale planning and conducting of air operations in a realistic operating environment,involving a wide range of aircraft and forces of modern air warfare,the Finnish Air Force said.Types of aircraft to be used are:multi-role fighters,including the large exercise debut of Norway's Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters;transport and liaison;aerial refueling tankers;NATO AWACS;transport and Search and Rescue helicopters.There will be two-three daily waves from Monday to Friday 8-5 Sweden and Norway time;9-6 Finland time.*
The drills will improve interoperability by adopting NATO procedures and providing host nation support,using the Cross Border Training concept which NORDEFCO uses on a regular basis.The exercise will develop fighter tactics and participant competencies in various duties of air operations by dissimilar aircraft under challenging conditions,while practising host nation support at Rovaniemi Air Base,Finland.COL Claes Isoz,F21 commander of the Swedish Air Force,is the Exercise Director.*
NORDEFCO consists of Finland,Norway and Sweden.*
Lockheed Martin (LMT)