During the last week of September 2016, the Finnish Air Force conducted the ‘Baana 16’ maneuvers, a road-base exercise involving aircraft operating from public highways in southern Finland.
THE ‘BAANA 16’ exercise was conducted on the highway in Lusi near Heinola, some 150km (93 miles) north-east of the Finnish capital, Helsinki. The Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force) conducted the event under the leadership of the Karjalan Lennosto (Karelia Wing), home-based at Kuopio- Rissala and equipped with Boeing (McDonnell Douglas) F/A-18C/D Hornet fighters, operated by Hävittäjälentolaivue 31 (HävLLv 31, Fighter Squadron 31). The ‘Baana 16’ exercise commander was Col Jari Mikkonen, commander of the Karelia Wing.
Road-base operations have been an integral part of Finnish Air Force battle tactics for decades. In order to keep personnel and equipment qualified for this special type of operation they are practised at regular intervals. In recent years the Ilmavoimat has conducted road-base exercises on average once a year. Finnish road bases are normally 1-2km (0.6-1.2-mile)- long sections of highway, which have been semi-prepared for this type of activity. Parking dispersals for aircraft are constructed close to the…
