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Saab JAS-39 Fighter Jet Sees No Reason Not to Land on a Two-Lane Road in Finland

This is the kind of story you would tell pretty much every time you got the change, and every single time nobody hearing it would believe you. It's a "pictures, or it didn't happen" kind of situation.
Saab JAS-39 Gripen Landing on public road 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
"There I was driving down the road, when in came this fighter jet grazing the top of the trees and landing right in front of me." And by the time your story was over, your whole audience would either laugh, or remain silent for a few awkward moments, and then find excuses to get as far away from you as possible. Nobody likes people who lie or brag, and that would sound like a bit of both.

However, it did happen. It was during some joint military exercise (Exercise Baana 2015) at the Rovaniemi Air Base between the Swedish and the Finnish air forces that involved planes taking off and landing on that closed road segment.

Not having to dodge traffic does take a little away from the skill involved in performing the maneuver, but we're talking about very little. After all, here is a 2,204 km/h (1,370 mph) capable fighter jet costing in the region of $70 million (62 million euros) landing on a narrow road flanked by a pine forest... What could possibly go wrong?

Apparently, nothing did and the whole exercise was carried over without incidents, in spite of the not so favorable weather conditions (overcast skies).

Taking part in the exercise were Finnish Hornet and Hawk tactical and transport jets, joined by two Swedish Saab JAS-39 Gripen fighter jets who also happened to perform this stunt for the first time.

Built during the '70s and the '80s and entering service for the Swedish air force in 1997, the Saab JAS-39 Gripen is one of the most beautiful light single-engine fighter jets, but it also hides a clever trick in its sleeve. Since it was designed during the Cold War, it was meant to be a quick response weapon in case of Soviet invasion, so it needed to take off from snow-covered 800 meters (2,600 ft) long airstrips. With this in mind, landing on a dry road suddenlly seems quite mundane.

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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