Italian F-35Bs demonstrate ACE in Finnish exercise

An Italian Air Force F-35B employing its STOVL capabilities during a recent NATO Agile Combat Employment exercise in Finland. (Italian Air Force)

The Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana: AMI) demonstrated the ability to fly its Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II short-take off and vertical landing (STOVL) combat aircraft from austere off-base operating locations during a recent NATO exercise in Finland.

NATO Allied Air Command and the AMI disclosed the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) deployment, which took place as part of the wider Exercise ‘Imminent Field' (previously known by its Finnish name of Exercise ‘Baana') running from 18 to 22 May 2026.

“For the first time, Italy brought their F-35B Lightning II fighters to ‘Imminent Field', joining Finnish [Boeing F/A-18 Hornet] aircraft on the road strip on 19 May to rehearse short landing and take-off procedures. The Italian jets [were] operating from Pirkkala Air Base during the exercise, taking advantage of the F-35B's short take-off and vertical landing design to prove they [could] generate sorties from austere, decentralised locations,” NATO Allied Air Command said.

ACE is a NATO concept of operations geared at providing the means to deploy rapidly between dispersed operating locations without sacrificing combat capabilities. It has gained increasing importance across NATO following Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the lessons being drawn from that ongoing conflict. Speaking to Janes and other defence media in 2024, Colonel Adam Nelson of the Swedish Air Force (SwAF) explained how this pivot back to ACE operations is geared at increasing the resilience of NATO in general.