Acknowledgments: The author thanks Maj
Jouni Turula, Lt Col Erik ‘Folder’ Brettingen, and
especially Capt Daniel ‘Northug’ Strand, Lt Col
Peter ‘Restless’ Greberg and Louise Levin, chief
of public affairs at Norrbottens fl ygfl ottilj F 21, for
making this article possible.Norway being a NATO country, ying
CBT sorties with their F-16s helps us to
know how NATO works.’Arctic Fighter Meet
Once a year the participating squadrons
arrange an actual face-to-face meeting
with the units at one of the three bases.
The location changes every year, and in
2017 it was held at Kallax. This is called
the Arctic Fighter Meet (AFM) and it
creates a strong bond between the
cross-border squadrons. During AFM
some of the more experienced pilots
from one nation y with their younger
and less experienced counterparts from
another, a method that bene ts all
the players.
‘Folder’ con rms that good old-
fashioned dog ghting is still an
important aspect of the training, and
CBT — and especially AFM — facilitates
this: ‘The Fighter Meet in particular is
all about getting back to basics, such
as one-on-one. Maybe the awareness
wasn’t there 20 years ago. We started to
get new systems, new missiles, and the
training would start to shift away from
the visual engagement. I think it’s nice
to see that we are now embracing this
component of our training.’
‘Restless’ adds, ‘I love AFM. It brings
us back to the very basics of ying.
To keep it easy, we just keep it to BFM
[basic ghter maneuvers] all the time.
There shouldn’t be any big planning or
evaluation. The most important thingabout AFM is to be at the same place,
to meet — to get to know each other.
That’s equally important as it is to y.’The future
The CBT package is helping squadrons
in the Nordic countries adapt to the
ever-changing global situation. ‘The
future for CBT is good’, opines ‘Restless’.
‘We should not be satis ed with how it
is, and we should always try to improve
it if we want it to be as productive as it
has been for the past 10 years.’
The typical BVR scenario might not
work in all situations. CBT has adapted
to the greater focus now being placed
on defensive missions and protecting
the borders, as ‘Restless’ illustrates: ‘It
has always been important to have the
younger pilots learn how to y against
dissimilar aircraft. Do BFM maneuvers
bring us further in some war-type
tactical scenario? No, but it’s a way of
knowing how to use your aircraft in
di erent situations, because it’s not only
peace and war. You can nd yourself up
there, in various states of crisis, and then
being able to maneuver your aircraft
against dissimilar ones is the main
objective.’The Swedish
Air Force is
now fl ying the
MS20-standard
Gripen, which
incorporates the
Meteor beyond-
visual-range
air-to-air missile
(BVRAAM),
GBU-39 Small
Diameter Bomb
(SDB), digital
close air support,
chemical,
biological,
radiological and
nuclear (CBRN)
protection for
the pilot, the
SPK 39 Modular
Reconnaissance
Pod II and a
ground collision
avoidance system
(GCAS).http://www.combataircraft.net // April 2018 99
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