The Lapland Air Force
Check out these very frosty images from the Finnish Air Force’s Lapin lennosto, or the Lapland Air Control, based at Someroharju, Rovaniemi, located just inches shy of the Arctic Circle along the 66th N. Parallel. Formed in 1974, the command hosts the F-18Cs of the 11th Fighter Squadron (HÄVLLV 11), deployed full-time 365, in all weather.
Anne Torvinen / Ilmavoimat, Lapin lennosto
Anne Torvinen / Ilmavoimat, Lapin lennosto
Anne Torvinen / Ilmavoimat, Lapin lennosto
Of note, Rovaniemi is significantly further north than Alaska’s Elmendorf Air Force Base, which is on the 61st N. Parallel, and Finnish F-18s, when fulfilling NATO air policing missions at Keflavik in Iceland, have to fly south to do so, as even that windswept paradise is on the 63rd Parallel.
They are pretty serious in Lapland. Note the six AMRAAM loadout. Anne Torvinen / Ilmavoimat, Lapin lennosto
Anne Torvinen / Ilmavoimat, Lapin lennosto
Tailhooks are retained and used, as the Finns incorporate them into an arrested short landing profile when operating on highways. Anne Torvinen / Ilmavoimat, Lapin lennosto
As noted by the Finns in the post that accompanied these photos, “Snow, ice, temperatures as low as -35°C – no problem! For us, here at the Arctic Circle, cold-weather training is… just ordinary training.”
