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| Finland Uses Highways to Become Runways for Military Aircraft |
International Military - As a result of the war in Ukraine, many countries are starting to take steps. Starting from political, economic steps, to strengthening the military. And all because of their fears of growing Russian military aggression.
The countries most affected by this war were Europe. Europe itself is facing a natural gas crisis. Russia responded to economic sanctions against it by limiting its natural gas exports to Europe. And instead of closing, President Putin asked for an exchange rate with the ruble as a means of transaction.
And sure enough, many European countries rejected the proposal, given the pressure from NATO. But there are also non-NATO countries that are also affected by the war and make decisions. One of them is Finland, which is currently trying to join NATO membership.
Finland considers that its country needs protection from a large organization, and NATO is the answer. Finland and Sweden together held a meeting on April 13, 2022. The meeting discussed the possibility of the two countries joining NATO, Defense View reported. And interestingly, voting residents of both countries agree to join NATO. "Finland shows 53% of citizens support membership (NATO) and for Sweden shows six out of ten citizens agree".
The news of the joining of Finland and Sweden was heard by the spokesman for Russia, Dmitry Peskov. For Peskov, Russia will not hesitate to use its nuclear weapons, under the pretext of responding to a major threat. And the joining of the two Scandinavian countries with NATO he described as a "major threat". “If they (Finland and Sweden) insist on joining NATO, we will deploy nuclear weapons to the Baltic Sea. There is no longer talk of a nuclear-free status for the Baltics, the balance must be restored," the Russian spokesman said.
Recently, Finland did the unexpected regarding the war in Ukraine. Citing Reuters, the government there turned the king's road into a runway for military aircraft. The Finnish Air Force has closed the highway there for 1.24 miles or about 2 km.
This road closure is in fact to conduct training for their air force. This requires pilots to be able to fly and land on limited runway conditions. During this exercise, about 200 staff of F-18 fighter jets, Hawk Mk51 trainer aircraft and other military aircraft were deployed.
A colonel named Vesa Mantyla said that this program could be done every year. This “immediate” base is in good condition and can be put into operation within a few days. And the Finnish Air Force can buy up all of its fleet in this exercise, and it is done every year,” said Mantyla.
Besides aiming to train pilots, the road closure is also to train ground crews. This is related to hot pit refueling, or refueling an aircraft without turning off the engine. Citing The Mayor, the aim of this training is to extend the operating life of the aircraft. By not turning off the engine, the plane can fly immediately after refueling.