It doesn’t smell great when the group boards the plane. At least not jet fuel. But delivering fuel is the goal of the journey. The message that has gone out is that each individual can only bring one camera and a maximum of three lenses. The trip will last six hours. The US Armed Forces have taken it upon themselves to host. The guests are Norway’s largest media companies. And the BBC. Now it’s time to find out a little more about what goes on when American and Norwegian soldiers practice in teams in the air. US Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa and the Maine Air National Guard offer a press flight. To give people the opportunity for better insight into what happens during a military exercise. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news Machine guns and fighters The brief is short. As usual, we have to bring identification and have a companion when we meet at the guard. Then there are young people with bulletproof vests and machine guns at the first barrier. New youths with rifles at the second barrier. Everyone smiles and greets and wishes for a good day ahead. Polite, Norwegian and young adults, on a mission to look after the country’s biggest investment in recent times: The new F-35 fighter jets. In addition to the safety of everyone who works and is on duty at the air base. You must know where you can film and take pictures. And it’s not easy to get close to the new F-35 fighter jets if you don’t work in the Armed Forces. But on Ørlandet they occasionally open up a bit to the press. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news During the Arctic Challenge Exercise 2023, there are over two thousand people inside these double, well-monitored fences. Together with over 50 fighters from several different nations. Photography is prohibited inside the base. Unless you have received approval to photograph in selected areas, and with someone who keeps a close eye on what ends up on the memory card. There is much that should not be shown. But as we approach the American tanker, it will soon be possible to start taking pictures. The expectations of the fifteen press people are shown on the outside of the bodies. Today there is an opportunity for very good photos of brand new fighters. Aircraft from the 50s The Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker is a proven aircraft type. The first plane was built in the USA in 1956. The plane on the strip in Ørlandet is actually from 1958. But it must have gone through many upgrades. It looks solid. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news The crew that meets everyone smiles. As usual, it’s windy on Ørlandet. And as usual, there is rain in the air. Sgt. (Staff Sergeant) Shelby Slaughter takes everyone up to a wall for shelter during the new press briefing that has to happen before anyone can board. Now the American defense is responsible for the rest of the trip. Sgt. Shelby Slaughter has a press briefing with, among others, Adresseavisen’s photographer Morten Antonsen, and a number of others. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news The Norwegian Defense Forces have managed to equip the press corps with hearing protection. They are all in “kids” size. That must be taken as a compliment. The entire lower half of the statotanker is full of jet fuel. So are the wings. Now it’s the art of getting up and going. To where all the fighters are. The Maine Air National Guard’s 101st Air Refueling Wing is responsible for carrying out the mission. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news Norway new to the knowledge When the combat aircraft decision came in 2012, Norwegian pilots had been flying the F-16 fighter jet for several decades. With the base decision came the decision that Ørlandet would be Norway’s new combat aircraft base. Fifty-two F-35 fighters were ordered from the United States. Step by step, Norwegian pilots have been trained. First in the USA, then they have come over to Norway as they have learned enough about the plane. More and more pilots have received training, and more and more aircraft have been produced for Norway at Lockheed Martin’s factory in Fort Worth, Texas. It is about having sufficient combat power in the air. Forty of Norway’s own F-35s now fly over mountains and fjords. Most from Ørland. A force has been built up. Norway will soon have the planes the country needs. Juan Dominguez, photographer for the BBC, waits to see fighters outside the walls of the large tanker. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news But all fighter planes need fuel. Especially if they are going on a mission where there is no time to land. Then the tanker planes are absolutely crucial. Like the stratotanker the press corps sits in. Both the fighter pilots and the crew on board the tanker must know what they are doing. Such a mission is a precision maneuver at several hundred kilometers per hour. Soon the first ones will appear. Maneuvering in “the pit” The plane is over Norway – or Sweden – somewhere. We don’t get to know much about that. It is in the airspace where the Arctic Challenge Exercise takes place. And without much warning, Captain in the US Air Force, Daniel R. de La Fé, signals that the photographers must get up. TV 2’s photographer Anneli Isaksen is in contact with fighter jets on the outside of the stratotanker while Polish TV n-24 and Adresseavisen wait their turn. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news The first fighter planes slowly glide past the left wing. Now the art is to be close to a window and get the first spectacular pictures. The planes are so close that we can see which way the pilots turn their heads. Senior Boom Operator MSgt. (Master Sargeant) Melinda Metten knows exactly what to do. She quickly walks backwards in the plane. The fighters hover outside on the side of the tanker for a while. Then they disappear under and behind the plane. This is where it will all happen. Melinda seems to have spent countless hours aboard airplanes. As the fighter planes position themselves behind the tanker, she lies in “the pit”. Senior Boom Operator MSgt. Melinda Metten has taken a seat in the built-in pit at the back of the plane. Below here, they look straight at the fighters coming to refuel. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news The upper part of the floor in the rear of the stratotanker has been rebuilt. There are, in a way, three beds under the floor. What the Americans call “the pit”. Melinda is first in the middle, then on the right. The colleague must also receive training and be allowed to try out. It is these two who are responsible for managing the refueling today. It’s all about maneuvering sticks. It’s all about precision. Getting a snake to crash into a fighter tank while flying through the air. Senior Boom Operator MSgt. Melinda Metten controls the arm of the fuel hose while lying in the back of the large tanker. Here, there are only a few meters between the tanker and the fighter plane outside. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news Between Melinda and the pilot of the fighter who has positioned himself ready for refueling, there are only a few metres. Mirrors in the window in front of her make it easier to see exactly where the fighters are in relation to the tanker. So much can go wrong. F-35 fills fuel in the air during the Arctic Challenge Exercise 2023 Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden/news This could end in collapse. But it doesn’t. In the stratotanker this day, it is the ladies’ precision that rules. The Maine Air National Guard are specialists in refueling in the air Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news An arm with the aviation fuel is lowered into a hatch on top of the fighter plane. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news There is such a short distance between the tanker and the fighter during refueling, that you can see each other clearly. Here is the pilot in the F-35 right outside the stratotanker. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news Norwegian pilots have learned quickly It turns out that the first four planes that appear on the trip are Norwegian. The next four are Italian. A total of thirteen nations, in addition to NATO, participate in the Arctic Challenge exercise. The Nordic countries are the hosts. Nordic countries have their own defense cooperation called NORDEFCO. The situation in Ukraine, in combination with the fact that Finland is now part of NATO, has resulted in extra large participation in the exercise this time. It is the biggest flight exercise in Europe this year. Almost three thousand people and 150 aircraft are involved. A third of them fly out from Ørland. This Italian fighter plane waits next to the stratotanker for its turn to refuel. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news Norway, the USA, the Netherlands and Italy fly out from Ørland with F-35s. Belgium with F-16. Czechoslovakia uses the Swedish aircraft type Jas Gripen. Never before have so many F-35s practiced from Norwegian soil. It is good for the various countries to exchange knowledge and know what works and what doesn’t. Captain de La Fé praises the Norwegian F-35 pilots for being good at refueling. He thinks they have become good quickly. Norway’s pilots have flown the F-35 for a relatively short time compared to American fighter pilots who have built up experience over many more years. Juan Dominguez from the BBC has spotted fighter jets. The press had the opportunity to take photos through the windows, and a few short visits to “the pit”. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news But skills as fighter pilots and purchasing new fighters are not enough in themselves. The possibility of fuel – or fuel – in the air is needed, when the situation calls for it. Doesn’t have its own tanks Finally, the press doesn’t need a lot more pictures. And there are no more flights waiting either. The press people once again tighten their grip on the seats along the walls, and start looking over images on their camera displays. Eight fighters had their tanks refueled from this stratotanker that day. But refueling in the air is something that the Norwegian defense can only do by order. The tanker flies in a circle over the practice area of the Arctic Challenge Exercise. Then the fighters arrive to refuel. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news Norway does not have its own tanker to refuel in the air. If the F-35 is to refuel in the air, the Norwegian Armed Forces must buy or rent tanker flight hours from allies. Norway has entered into a tanker cooperation with Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg and the Czech Republic through NATO’s procurement organisation. Eight tankers are available. But no one stands in Norway. The staff of the Maine Air National Guard’s 101st Air Refueling Wing undertakes refueling missions worldwide. They are happy to be part of the exercise in the Nordics. During the Arctic Challenge, refueling with this stratotanker is part of the US Air Force’s contribution to the community. From left: US Air Force Captain Daniel R. de La Fé, Junior boom operator SSgt Shelby Slaughter and US Air Force MSgt Andrew T. Sinclair. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news When the plane lands after many hours in the air, it is exactly as it was when the tanker took off. It is still windy and raining on Ørlandet. But for the fifteen who were able to take part, this may have been a kind of educational journey. A journey to better understand how war and peace and the like work. Melinda and junior boom operator Shelby are done with today’s session and say yes. There are some cars waiting for them, and they disappear. The press people take a few selfies in front of the tanker and are driven and guided through all the checkpoints to the main gate of the fighter base. Then one is released into the civilian world again. But for Norway’s fighting power, it’s probably very good that Melinda and Shelby are back inside the gate.
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No combat power without a tank – Long reading from news Trøndelag
