"ADEX 05 on May 13 to 27
The Finnish Air Force hosts one of the largest multi-national air defense exercises in Europe in 2005. The exercise, known as ADEX 05, will be conducted from Pirkkala and Kauhava Air Force Bases between 13th and 27th of May.
In addition to Finnish units, detachments from Sweden, France, and the Netherlands participate in the exercise.
The primary objective of the exercise is to boost the capabilities of Finnish Air Force personnel with the aim of enabling them to participate in European crisis management operations from 2008 onwards and thus meet a goal set to the Air Force. The exercise will be conducted in the spirit of Partnership for Peace.
The exercise focuses on air-to-air operations, yet air-to-ground operations will be simulated to an extent necessary for meeting training objectives. The exercise is estimated to generate approximately one thousand flight hours."
More in english:
http://www.ilmavoimat.fi/index.php?id=444Managed to visit the airfield today, first watching the planes taking off, then moving to the end of the runway to see them land. Beautiful!
More of my photos and videos as well here:
http://byterapers.com/~grendel/photos/adex2005/My taxmoney well used, I say.
Funny that the Mirages smell much better than the other planes, when they pass you on landing finals. Mmmmm French planes
"Flying Dutchmen" as Pen Warriors
14 May 2005
Patrick Dirksen and Frank Mink were busy capturing images of aircaft that participate in the exercise.
The multinational air defense exercise stirs interest not only in the press of the host nation but also among foreign journalists.
Reporters Frank Mink and Patrick Dirksen from the Dutch magazines Piloot & Vliegtuig and Centerline Magazine arrived in Finland early, a few days before action proper started. The two Dutchmen, whose schedule consists of visits to Kuopio, Tikkakoski, and Kauhava in addition to Tampere, were unanimous in their praise of the exercise.
"Your aircraft are rarely seen outside Finland. This visit was absolutely worth it. People are interested in the Finnish Air Force since your air force and the Netherlands have many mutual interests, for example due to the fact that we both operate Fokker aircraft," Dirksen and Mink say with emphasis.
The same opinion is also voiced by the editor Rene Sertons and photographer Ellen Kurvers of De Vliegende Hollander ("The Flying Dutchman"), the official magazine of the Royal Netherlands Air Force.
"The main reason for our coming in here is our pilots and aircraft. Yet, an international exercise as a whole, with its associated events and participants, is of interest to the readers of our magazine," Sertons says.
The professional Dutch aviation journalists consider the combined exercise of four countries important.
"If future plans include cooperation between nations, the participants must be able to operate with each other. Exercises inside one own's country against own aircraft are not enough in view of achieving this objective," Dirksen states.
And it looks like the conditions for exercising cooperation in Finland leave little to be desired -- even weather showed its best traits on the first day of the exercise.
"I have been to your country twice, and so far this has been the best weather I have experienced here," says Dirksen with laugh.
A lot of good articles in English:
http://www.ilmavoimat.fi/index.php?id=479And of course:
History of Finnish Air Force
http://www.ilmavoimat.fi/index.php?id=486
