NATO’s Ramstein Flag 26 exercise reaches from Finland to Spain
The northern part of the Ramstein Flag 26 live-fly exercise will take place in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark from 8 to 19 June 2026.
Ramstein Flag is a multinational live-fly exercise led by NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM), spanning this year from Finland to Spain. The exercise involves 19 NATO nations and more than 150 aircraft operating from air bases across Europe. The objective is to train Allied air forces’ rapid response capabilities as part of NATO’s collective defence in Article 5 scenarios.
Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark will jointly host the northern part of the exercise. For the Finnish Air Force, the objective is to increase interoperability with Allies in large-force multinational air operations, and to strengthen NATO’s collective defence and deterrence as a member of the Alliance.
‒ Exercise Ramstein Flag 26 provides an excellent opportunity to plan and execute large-force multinational air operations and a wide variety of different mission types together with Allies. Receiving German, U.S., Polish, and Spanish detachments to Finland requires robust Host Nation Support from us. Furthermore, the use of the Tervo highway strip allows us to train dispersed operations together with our Allies, says Colonel Vesa Mäntylä, Deputy Chief of Staff, Air Force Command Finland.
Read more about the exercise:
All Finnish Air Force units to participate in the exercise
Finland will take part in exercise Ramstein Flag 26 with 12 F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets and around 500 personnel. All the Finnish Air Force units will be involved. Receiving Allied forces and providing Host Nation Support are central elements of the exercise, as more than 50 aircraft and around 1,300 airmen from Allied nations will arrive in Finland in late May and early June.
The Lapland Air Wing will participate with F/A-18 Hornets, and host German Air Force Tornado and Eurofighter jets as well as U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II fighter jets at Rovaniemi Air Base. Transport and aerial refuelling aircraft operating from Rovaniemi will include German and Spanish A330 MRTT tankers, and U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J Super Hercules aircraft. Adversary air services will be provided by aircraft from the contractors GFD and Top Aces.
The Karelia Air Wing will take part with F/A-18 Hornets, and take into use the Tervo highway strip in Northern Savonia. Regional road 551 between Karttula and Tervo will be closed to public traffic from 7 to 14 June 2026.
The Satakunta Air Wing will host U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II fighter jets and NATO Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Force (NISRF) RQ-4D Phoenix remotely piloted aircraft at Pirkkala Air Base.
The Air Force Academy will host Spanish Air Force EF-18 Hornets as well as Polish Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets and M-346 jet trainers at Tikkakoski Air Base.
Ramstein Flag 26 flight operations will primarily take place north of the Tampere–Jyväskylä–Kuopio line, as well as in northern Sweden and Norway. Flying will occur daily from 9 am to 6 pm from 8 to 18 June 2026.
Air-to-ground live firing at Rovajärvi range area
In connection with the exercise, the Finnish and German air forces will conduct air-to-ground live firing at targets located in the Rovajärvi range area between 1 and 5 June 2026. Participating aircraft include Finnish F/A-18 Hornet and German Tornado fighter jets.
During the live-fly phase of Ramstein Flag 26 from 8 to 18 June, no live munitions will be used, as missile launches and bomb releases will be simulated.
