Arctic air force exercise kicks off
Xinhua, May 26, 2015 Adjust font size:
Arctic Challenge Exercise 2015 (ACE 15), a large air force exercise arranged by Finland, Sweden and Norway, started on Monday in northern Finland, Finnish media reported.
More than 100 jets from nine countries including the three Nordic nations as well as Switzerland, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Germany and the United States have participated in it. Except Finland, Sweden and Switzerland, all the other countries are NATO members.
The planes involved ranged from fighter jets to jamming aircraft and aerial refueling tankers.
The 12-day multi-national air force exercise will be held in northern Scandinavia until June 5.
The aim of the exercise is to practice the abilities in planning and implementation of multinational air operations, as well as to develop international cooperation capacity, according to the Finnish Air Force.
Finland sent 16 Hornet fighters to participate in the exercise. The Finnish Air Force said the exercise is one of its most important events of this year. Endit