Allied forces conclude Atlantic Trident 25 in Finland Published July 2, 2025 By Airman 1st Class Bridget Rossignol U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa PIRKKALA AIR BASE, Finland (AFNS) -- U.S., U.K., French and Finnish forces partnered in Atlantic Trident 25, a two-week, tactical and operational training exercise held across multiple locations in Finland June 16-27. Atlantic Trident 25 was a multinational effort designed to reinforce warfighting capabilities, amplify the warrior mindset and re-establish credible deterrence in a contested, simulated environment. The exercise aimed to strengthen fourth and fifth-generation fighter interoperability and improve combat readiness across the participating countries. Finnish Air Force Col. Saku Joukas, Lapland Air Wing commander, U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Jack Arthaud, 48th Fighter Wing commander, Capt. Hunter Robinson, 495th Fighter Squadron F-35A Lightning II pilot, and Finnish Air Force Lt. Col. Lasse Louhela, Fighter Squadron 11 commander, pose for a photo during exercise Atlantic Trident 25 at Rovaniemi Air Base, Finland, June 16, 2025. Atlantic Trident 25 allows the U.S., U.K., France and Finland to train in an interoperable environment, refining operational integration and ensuring Allied forces can seamlessly secure the Euro-Atlantic region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christopher Campbell) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res Atlantic Trident 25 demonstrated and advanced our deterrence, and it demonstrated that if deterrence fails, the four nations represented here today are ready to win decisively,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jason Hinds, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa deputy commander. “The confidence I saw in all Airmen was backed by readiness, interoperability and our ability to field lethal forces.” While fourth and fifth-generation fighters took to the skies, U.S., U.K., French and Finnish Airmen and joint partners on the ground exercised a wide range of critical functions necessary to generate combat airpower at a moment’s notice. Airmen trained together to rapidly repair airfield damage on realistic timelines, allowing flying operations to continue within hours instead of days. They executed multi-national hot-pit refueling and cross-nation aircraft servicing, practicing participants’ abilities to support recovering and launching aircraft from other air forces. And the nations exercised combined-coalition logistics and command and control, joint functions history has proven as essential to operations. This level of cooperation and precision training allowed participants to strengthen teamwork among NATO allies’ aircraft and Airmen. It also increased U.S. Airmen’s ability to adapt to unfamiliar locations and airspace in Finland, enhancing combat response capabilities and expanding the reach of the U.S. military forces. A U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle, U.S. F-35A Lightning II, Finnish F/A-18 Hornet, and French Rafale break away from a formation during exercise Atlantic Trident 25 over Finland, June 20, 2025. Atlantic Trident 25 builds military capability and warfighting capacity between the U.S., U.K., France and Finland to support deterrence and defense of the Euro-Atlantic region, ensuring continued readiness, adaptability and lethality. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st Class Bridget Rossignol) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res “Airmen from our four nations were training together and learning together all in peacetime. Now they're developing trust across the alliance at the unit level, down to the individual,” Hinds said. Finland hosted Atlantic Trident 25 for the first time this year and played a key role in planning, demonstrating an important expansion beyond the traditional U.S., U.K. and French framework. “Everything we’ve asked of the Finnish in planning this past year, they have responded with ‘that will not be a problem,’” said Michael Goodwin, the USAFE-AFAFRICA Atlantic Trident 25 lead planner. This milestone reflects Finland’s growing role in allied air operations, with missions based out of Pirkkala, Rovaniemi, Halli, Kuopio, and Jyväskylä air bases. “This type of exercise, for us, means to train together,” said French Air and Space Force Col. Vincent, Rafale aircraft pilot. “We know we can fight together, and we know we can exchange and distribute our capabilities.” Each country had air assets participating in the exercise. U.S. Air Force aircraft included the F-35A Lightning II, F-15E Strike Eagle, and KC-135 Stratotanker. The Finnish Air Force participated with F/A-18 Hornets. The French Air and Space Forces sent Rafale, E-3F Sentry, A330 Multi-Role Transport and Tanker, and A400M Atlas aircraft. The U.K. Royal Air Force participated with the Eurofighter Typhoon. U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Randy Kwiatkowski, U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa command chief, addresses 48th Fighter Wing Airmen during exercise Atlantic Trident 25 at Pirkkala Air Base, Finland, June 26, 2025. AT 25 is designed to increase the U.S. and allies’ power, lethality and flexibility, edging strategic coalition deterrence. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Ashley Talley) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jason Hinds, U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa deputy commander, attends a press conference alongside Finnish Air Force Maj. Gen. Timo Herranen, Finnish Air Force commander, during exercise Atlantic Trident 25 at Pirkkala Air Base, Finland, June 26, 2025. The leaders discussed the exercise's mission to build military capabilities and warfighting capacity between the U.S., U.K., France and Finland, to support deterrence and defense of the Euro-Atlantic region, ensuring continued readiness, adaptability and lethality. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Ashley Talley) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res Royal Air Force Air Vice Marshall Tom Burke, Air Officer Commanding 11 Group, French Air and Space Force Maj. Gen. Guillaume Thomas, Air Defense and Air Operations chief of staff, U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jason Hinds, U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa deputy commander, and Finnish Air Force Maj. Gen. Timo Herranen, Finnish Air Force commander, discusses exercise Atlantic Trident 25 mission successes at Pirkkala Air Base, Finland, June 26, 2025. AT 25 focused on integrated operations with NATO allies to ensure the alliance is capable of projecting lethality and readiness throughout the European area of responsibility. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Ashley Talley) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res These training opportunities demonstrated quick response and sustainment capabilities under the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) model, which enables the rapid deployment of combat power in dynamic, high-threat environments. The exercise emphasized cooperation under realistic conditions, reinforcing common standards and procedures, and building trust among Allies. “This exercise was solely focused on readiness, and that’s readiness to win the high-end fight,” Hinds said. “This year, Finland provided us with the opportunity to train and respond in a realistic scenario in defense in the High North, so together, we advanced our air forces’ ability to integrate across the countries – all four of them.” U.S. Air Force Logo