In historic first, Canadian jets land on Estonian highway as part of military exercise

Canadian fighter jets landed on an Estonian highway for the first time, marking a key milestone in NATO’s efforts to boost allied air forces’ ability to operate under hostile conditions and make them harder to strike in the tense Baltic region, the Royal Canadian Air Force says.

The mission was carried out as part of the international Tarassis 25 military exercise this week, where Canadian CF-18 Hornet pilots practised complex aircraft manoeuvres on public roads that had been closed to traffic – as preparation for operating in more austere locations in case airfields or airports are damaged during conflicts, rendering them unusable – alongside their Italian and Estonian counterparts.