Finnish Hornets patrol Black Sea skies on historic first NATO mission

This is not Top Gun. 

There are no dogfights with enemy aircraft, but with a war happening just over the horizon, the threats are real for the Finnish Air Force personnel deployed on the country's first NATO policing mission. 

"The area where we are operating is not directly connected to the area where Russian air power is operating, so we haven't seen a Russian aircraft on this mission so far, it's been quite calm from our point of view," explains Lt Col Aki Väisänen, the detachment commander of this Karelian Air Wing NATO mission. 

"In fact this operating area is quite similar to our own in Finland, because we have this long border with Russia and also here we have quite close proximity to the war zone," he tells Finland Insider. 

Eight F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets and up to 100 military personnel are rotating through a NATO megabase in Romania - the largest in Europe - during this two-month deployment, with two main roles.

They’re primarily carrying out quick reaction air policing patrols, where the duties are shared every other week with British Royal Air Force Typhoons. And secondly, they’re operating 'air shielding' training flights with other allies to flex NATO's air power muscle in the Black Sea region. 

There's a third aspect to the deployment which Lt Colonel Väisänen, 48, considers important. 

"We are here also to learn, as a unit, as the Finnish Defence Force, and it's important for all our soldiers and those in our command structure to get new experiences." 

"We learn a lot from our allies, but we are a very small air force compared to others, and we can't be experts in all areas of air power, but we can definitely learn while we are here." 

Väisänen, a career Air Force officer who joined the service straight from conscription, also points out that Finland's allies in Romania - he meets daily with his Royal Air Force counterpart - can learn something new from the Finns too.  

"The Brits have been interested in our dispersed operations concept, how we deploy our troops, resources, and the different deployable facilities we have in Finland. That's something we have shown to them." 

Life on a NATO megabase

The Finnish detachment is stationed at Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base in eastern Romania, almost directly opposite Crimea on the other side of the Black Sea. 

The base will soon eclipse Ramstein in Germany to become NATO's largest facility in Europe, hosting 10,000 personnel by the end of the decade. It’s being expanded with new infrastructure like runways, accommodation, healthcare facilities and even schools and a pharmacy. 

The operational side of the base - aircraft facilities, runway, taxiways - are all maintained by the Romanians, while the Americans have built the other facilities like gyms, restaurants and support services. 

"The food was quite a surprise when I came here!" says Master Sgt Visa Heikkinen.

"The food is awesome, but the heat is terrible. It is 37 degrees now and especially since I am doing a lot of exercise it's a big thing to have the proper nutrition," the 32-year-old Kuopio native tells Finland Insider.

When the Finnish contingent was preparing for their Romania deployment they had a chance to bring a few creature comforts from home, with some opting to bring rye bread, while others packed Fazer chocolate and salmiakki. 

"But not in such large amounts because in the end, we are not here for such a long time," says Heikkinen.’

Off-duty sauna and sports

The Finnish Air Force personnel are working slightly longer hours on this NATO mission than they would at home, but off-duty they've been taking every opportunity for 'team bonding' by organising sports tournaments on Fridays, and of course building a sauna. 

"There's a lot of space on the base to do sports like football or basketball," says Heikkinen, who runs and uses the gym. 

"We built a sauna and maybe the kiaus [stove] was brought from Finland, but the whole sauna was built here by the guys in their free time.”

The detachment's sauna has been used for cementing relations with NATO allies too, with British and American personnel invited to enjoy the löyly [sauna steam] but with mixed results. 

"Some people have never been to sauna ever, some have only been to a spa. Some people know what's happening and some are ashamed to be naked," says Visa Heikkinen. 

"Sometimes the Americans have never seen each other naked together, but for us Finnish guys it's normal!" he laughs. 

Joking aside, the deployment has given the Karelia Air Wing personnel the chance to come together even more closely as a unit. 

"When you are far from home we do everything together, and for me the big thing is that we can connect with other Finnish colleagues we don't normally have time to speak to like security guards or pilots or truck maintainers," says Heikkinen. 

"And since we are here in the same soup, a small camp together, we do activities together like sports, playing cards, and sit in sauna all night." 

Future Air Force deployments

Although the Romania deployment is a first for the Air Force since Finland joined NATO a year ago, it won't be the last - but more regular participation might be on hold for a while. 

"This air policing mission is the first of its kind, and its a sort of political statement too that we're part of NATO and willing to provide our capabilities as part of the alliance, and we are proud to be here with our allies who have been doing it for many years," says detachment commander Lt Colonel Aki Väisänen. 

Next winter there could be another deployment, but after that the changeover from the Hornets to the new €10 billion F35s will have to take priority. 

"For the next few years we need to concentrate on our change of fighter, and the building of the F35 capabilities begins in 2025 so our personnel will be very busy with that new aircraft," Väisänen explains. 

"From that point of view it's even more important to be here right now, just one year since we joined the NATO alliance, and to show that in the future we will be here too."