Italy Deploys F-35B Stealth ‘Jump Jets’ to Russia’s Borders for Runway-Free Operations

The Italian Air Force has deployed F-35B fifth generation fighter aircraft to conduct highway operations in Finland for the first time, operating the aircraft from the Finnish Air Force’s dispersed road base network to simulate dispersal in a high intensity conflict situation.

The fighters operated from the Jokioinen alternate landing site in Kanta-Hame, approximately 200 kilometers from the Russian border.

These operations reflected a broader U.S.-led shift in NATO air doctrine toward Agile Combat Employment and distributed operations, which stipulates that rather than concentrating combat aircraft at a limited number of large bases, fighter units instead train for dispersal across improvised locations.

The United States Air Force from 2019 began to train to operate its own F-35A fighters under a similar concept in the Middle East, before implementing it during its war with Iran from February to limit vulnerability to missile and drone attacks on its bases. 

Although the F-35 was designed primarily for aircraft carrier operations and to support U.S. Marine Corps ‘island hopping’ operations in the Pacific, the Italian Air Force remains one of just two services in the world alongside the Singaporean Air Force to have ordered the aircraft primarily for land-based operations.

This reflects the fact that austere airfield operations were prioritized when procurement decisions were being made.

The F-35B is approximately 50% more costly to procure than the F-35A, while having a far shorter range, higher maintenance needs lower weapons capacity, and far inferior flight performance, reflecting a wide range of design compromises made to accommodate its short takeoff and vertical landing capabilities.

Its ability to operate from makeshift airfields is nevertheless unmatched among Western fighter aircraft. It is estimated to require only 150-300 meters of runway to take off, where the F-35A requires over 1,000 meters.

Italian Air Force Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Luca Goretti justified the decision to procure a small number of F-35B’s by stressing that there were many short airfields around the world, with its austere airfield capabilities ensuring that it could be relevant everywhere in the world.

If you consider also what’s happening in Ukraine, airfield dispersion can be maybe one day the only way to protect your high-value assets.

Western fighter aircraft have traditionally not prioritized austere airfield capabilities, contrasting sharply with their Soviet and later Russian counterparts which have consistently been built to operate from makeshift runways.

This is increasingly widely recognized to have caused significant vulnerabilities due to the advanced missile and drone strike capabilities of potential adversaries, with the Russian, Iranian and North Korean asymmetric strategies for countering Western Bloc air power focusing heavily on the ability to target airfields.

Significant questions have been raised regarding the performance and cost effectiveness of the F-35B, particularly after the U.S. Marine Corps in early 2025 announced plans to reduce procurement’s from 353 to just 280 aircraft, with the intention of reallocating funds to more than double its planned fleet of F-35C fighters from 67 to 140.

This follows multiple reports that the F-35B had fallen short of requirements for Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) – the Marines’ own doctrine for dispersed fighter operations – largely due to its excessive maintenance needs.

Thus while the attraction of a fighter optimised to operate away from major runways is expected to continue to grow, the F-35B’s significant shortcomings in a number of areas, including its outstandingly high sustainment requirements, may negate this.

Military Watch Magazine / ABC Flash Point News 2026.