Finnish Air Force to Take Part in Royal Air Force’s Cobra Warrior Exercise

The Finnish Air Force will deploy six F/A-18 Hornet multi-role fighters to the Cobra Warrior 23-1 exercise in the United Kingdom on 6?24 March 2023. Cobra Warrior is the Royal Air Force’s international tactical training event, which takes place two times a year. The Finnish Air Force will participate in the exercise for the first time in March 2023. The exercise will take place from the 2 to 24 March and will see 70 aircraft taking part and is being directed by staff at RAF Waddington.

We will take part in the Cobra Warrior exercise because the Royal Air Force is an important partner for us bilaterally, in the framework of the Joint Expeditionary Force cooperation, and as a future NATO ally. From the perspective of the Finnish Air Force, developing interoperability with the United Kingdom and the other JEF nations also supports cooperation within NATO,” says Chief of Staff, Air Force Command Finland, Brigadier General Timo Herranen.

For the Finnish Air Force, the aim of the Cobra Warrior 23-1 exercise is to train together with the Royal Air Force, to enhance interoperability with future NATO allies, and to develop the integration of 4th and 5th generation fighters. In total, around 70 aircraft will take part in the exercise. The Finnish F/A-18s 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 Boulmer.

The Finnish Air Force’s participation in Cobra Warrior 23-1 will be part of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) cooperation. Finland joined the JEF in 2017. The UK Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) is a United Kingdom-led expeditionary force which consists of Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway. Eight of the countries are also members of NATO, with Finland and Sweden currently outside that alliance as their applications are pending ratification.