Lockheed Martin F-35A fighter jets land on motorway
(VOVWORLD) - A pair of F-35A Lockheed Martin fighter jets have landed on a motorway for the first time, footage from the Norwegian military showed, a step that enables them to reduce vulnerable time on the ground in times of war.
 An F-35A Lockheed Martin fighter jet lands on a motorway, in Tervo, Finland, September 21, 2023. (NTB/Ole Andreas Vekve via REUTERS) |
The two Royal Norwegian Air Force aircraft landed in Tervo, central Finland, on Thursday afternoon as part of a military exercise.
"Fighter jets are vulnerable on the ground, so by being able to use small airfields – and now motorways – (this) increases our survivability in war," Major General Rolf Folland, chief of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, said in the statement.
Another type of F-35, the F-35B which is able to land vertically, has landed on roads before. This was a first for this particular version of the F-35 jet, which cannot land vertically.