Finnish Air Force to join Cobra Warrior 24-2 exercise in UK

The Finnish Air Force will deploy six F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets to the Cobra Warrior 24-2 exercise in the United Kingdom from 16 September to 4 October, said Finnish Defence Forces in a press release on Monday.

Cobra Warrior is the Royal Air Force’s international live air exercise, which takes place two times a year.

The objective of the three-week exercise is to train the participants to contribute to large-force multinational air operations.

This will be the second time the Finnish Air Force takes part in the exercise; the first time having been in March 2023.

The Cobra Warrior exercise series is run by the RAF Air & Space Warfare Centre and 92 Squadron, both based at RAF WaddingtonLink to an external website, and specialized in developing air combat tactics and training.

International cooperation is a keystone of the exercise concept, as the participating nations include the United Kingdom’s allies and partners from all around the world. As a result, the exercise involves several different fighter types, enabling the combination of diverse fighter tactics and the development of air combat training.

For the Finnish Air Force, the objective of the Cobra Warrior 24-2 exercise is to develop the interoperability of tactics and techniques together with Allies as part of large-force multinational air operations.

The exercise will involve F-35 fighter jets from the United Kingdom, the United States and Norway, providing an opportunity to develop the cooperation between fourth- and fifth-generation jets.

The objective of such Fighter Integration (FI) activity is to optimize the capabilities of two different generations of jets, building on the strengths of each.

In total, the Cobra Warrior 24-2 exercise will involve more than 80 aircraft from the United Kingdom, Finland, Norway, the United States, Canada and Poland.

In addition to fighter jets, there will be air-to-air refueling tankers, surveillance aircraft, transport aircraft and helicopters taking part in the flight operations.

The Finnish F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets will operate out of RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.

In addition to the F/A-18 detachment, the exercise will involve Finnish fighter controllers at the Control and Reporting Centre at RAF BoulmerLink to an external website. Lapland Air Wing will plan and carry out the Finnish participation in the exercise, but the Finnish detachment will include personnel also from other Air Force units.