Photos show Finnish Air Force Hornets refueling from U.S. KC-135 during training exercise underway in Finland

Finnish Air Force F/A-18s as seen from the tanker aircraft.

The images in this post were taken during aerial refueling training exercise underway from Apr. 4 to Apr. 8 in Finland.

Finnish Air Force single and two-seater F/A-18s are practicing AAR (Air-to-Air Refueling) with the help of the 100th ARW (Air Refueling Wing) from RAF Mildenhall, that deployed a KC-135 tanker to Rovaniemi airbase (where it found a pretty cold temperature as the image below proves…).

The drills, carried out in daylight conditions from 8AM to 4PM local time, aim to train Finnish Hornet pilots refuel mid-air by a tanker using the hose-and-drogue refueling system. A second such exercise is scheduled in September.

Image credit: Finnish Air Force

Related articles

• [Video] B-2 Stealth Bomber refuels over UK
• Spectacular Photo of U.S. Air Force CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft with the full moon in the background
• [Video] U.S. F-16s, Swedish Gripens refuel from KC-135 tankers during Baltic Operations
• Tanker problem forces US-bound F-22 Raptors to return to Germany
• [Photo] NATO E-3 AWACS refueled over Eastern Europe by U.S. KC-135 tanker
• “Soviet mission markings” on a U.S. RC-135U spyplane used to monitor the Ukrainian crisis
• GoPro footage of a dogfight between Dutch F-16 and U.S. F-15 over the North Sea

About David Cenciotti

WebsiteFacebookTwitterLinkedIn instagram

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.