U.S. Fifth Gen F-35 Jets Join F-16s for Rapid NORAD Surge in Greenland’s Arctic Defense Drill
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U.S. F-35A and F 16 fighters operating from Pituffik Space Base in Greenland offered a clear demonstration of NORAD’s focus on faster Arctic reinforcement, showing how quickly mixed generation units can be surged into polar airspace when conditions demand it. The drill unfolded against a backdrop of growing concern about Russian bomber routes, increased submarine activity, and expanding Chinese interest in the High North, all of which have pushed Arctic readiness back to the center of North American defense planning.
On 26 November 2025, images of F-35A Lightning II aircraft from the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing flying alongside F-16 Fighting Falcons over Greenland drew new attention to North America’s air defense posture, as reported by the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office. The footage relates to a recent NORAD “dynamic operational exercise” staged from Pituffik Space Base in October, designed to test how quickly U.S. forces can surge fifth- and fourth-generation fighters into the Arctic. This deployment comes amid intensifying military activity in the High North, where Russia’s renewed bomber and submarine presence and growing Chinese interest in Arctic routes have pushed the region back to the forefront of NATO planning. The operation over Greenland therefore, resonates well beyond a routine training event, signalling how the F-35 program is being integrated into day-to-day continental defense and alliance cooperation with Denmark.
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U.S. F-35A and F-16 fighters operating from Pituffik Space Base in Greenland highlighted NORAD’s focus on rapid Arctic reinforcement. The drill reflects rising concern about Russian bomber routes and growing Chinese interest in the High North (Picture Source: F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office)
The deployment over Greenland showcased the F-35A in its role as NORAD’s newest combat aircraft, paired with F-16s to provide complementary capabilities in the demanding Arctic environment. According to official accounts, two F-35s from the 115th Fighter Wing and two F-16s, supported by three KC-135 tankers, were forward-based to Pituffik Space Base for several days, executing alert launches, patrols and refuelling sorties in extreme weather. The F-35 brings stealth, long-range sensors and secure datalinks that allow it to act both as a shooter and as an airborne sensor node for other assets. In this context, the F-35s over Greenland are not just another fighter presence: they are a flying ISR and command-and-control platform able to fuse radar, infrared and electronic emissions across a vast, sparsely equipped airspace and share that picture with NORAD and Danish command posts, while operating alongside the more numerous and familiar F-16s.
For the Wisconsin Air National Guard, the Greenland sortie is a milestone in a rapid transition from F-16 to F-35 operations. The 115th Fighter Wing only began receiving its F-35As in 2023, becoming the second Air National Guard unit to operate the fifth-generation fighter after years of flying the F-16C/D. Since then, the wing has completed intensive weapons evaluation campaigns such as Combat Archer in Florida, validating its ability to conduct live air-to-air missile firings and adapt maintenance and support procedures to the new platform. The October deployment to Pituffik Space Base extends that learning curve into the Arctic, where short-notice movements, austere infrastructure and harsh weather test both the aircraft and the support chain. It also continues a pattern that began when F-35s first operated from Greenland during earlier NORAD events such as Operation Noble Defender, progressively normalizing fifth-generation fighter presence in the High North and demonstrating that National Guard units can be integrated into front-line Arctic missions.
The exercise also offers a clear comparison between the F-35 and the F-16, still a backbone of U.S. and allied air forces. The F-16 brings proven reliability, high maneuverability and a broad weapons inventory, and remains cost-effective for many air policing and quick-reaction alert missions. In Greenland, its participation demonstrates how fourth-generation fighters can continue to shoulder a significant share of day-to-day NORAD tasks. By contrast, the F-35 adds low-observable characteristics that complicate adversary radar tracking, a more powerful sensor suite and automated sensor fusion, allowing pilots to build a coherent picture of the battlespace more quickly and at greater range. Used together, the two aircraft form a layered force, with the F-35 detecting and classifying threats early and coordinating intercepts, and F-16s and other assets providing additional mass and persistence. The Greenland mission illustrates how this mixed fleet approach can be applied in the Arctic, where long distances and limited ground infrastructure magnify the value of every sortie and where potential adversaries may rely on high-value platforms such as long-range bombers.
Strategically, the deployment underscores the centrality of Greenland to North American and NATO defense at a time when Arctic security is tightening, and it now sits in stark contrast with the Russian Tu-160 patrol recently reported by Army Recognition. The Tu-160, a large supersonic variable-geometry bomber developed in the late Soviet period, combines very long range, high speed and a payload on the order of several tens of tonnes carried in two internal bays, including long-range cruise missiles that can be fitted with conventional or nuclear warheads. Together with the Tu-95MS, it forms the core of Russia’s Long Range Aviation and the air-delivered leg of its nuclear deterrent. Its eleven-hour flight over neutral Arctic waters, announced by Moscow as a scheduled training mission, fits into a pattern of bomber patrols conducted over the Arctic, North Atlantic and Pacific that are regularly tracked and intercepted by NATO fighters. At the same time, NORAD F-35s and F-16s are being used to monitor such activity and to reinforce the Greenland–Iceland–United Kingdom gap and the wider Arctic approaches. The latest NORAD drill, publicized by the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office, therefore sends a parallel message to the Tu-160 sortie: the United States and its allies intend to sustain and modernize their presence at Pituffik Space Base and across the Greenlandic airspace corridor, while Russia continues to demonstrate that its long-range bomber fleet can operate for extended periods along key strategic corridors.
The images of Wisconsin’s F-35s and accompanying F-16s flying over Greenland with the backdrop of a rare and highly publicized Tu-160 patrol over Arctic waters signify more than routine training exercises. They represent the culmination of a National Guard unit’s transition to advanced fifth-generation airpower, demonstrating its operational capability in the critical arena of continental defense. This exercise shows how rapidly deployable and sustainable fifth-generation fighters have become crucial tools for operational readiness in a strategically sensitive Arctic region, integrating seamlessly with legacy platforms and allied forces.
Simultaneously, the Russian Tu-160 patrol underscores Moscow’s strategic assertion of long-range aviation’s power projection in the Arctic. This nuclear-capable platform’s endurance flight highlights the Arctic as a critical theater where strategic bomber missions serve both as deterrence and geopolitical signaling. The exercise underlines that any future conflict in the High North would involve air forces capable of rapid deployment, persistent surveillance, and credible long-range strike capabilities. Control over this vast and exposed airspace will increasingly hinge on the ability to combine cutting-edge technology with logistical resilience in extreme polar conditions.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
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U.S. F-35A and F 16 fighters operating from Pituffik Space Base in Greenland offered a clear demonstration of NORAD’s focus on faster Arctic reinforcement, showing how quickly mixed generation units can be surged into polar airspace when conditions demand it. The drill unfolded against a backdrop of growing concern about Russian bomber routes, increased submarine activity, and expanding Chinese interest in the High North, all of which have pushed Arctic readiness back to the center of North American defense planning.
On 26 November 2025, images of F-35A Lightning II aircraft from the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing flying alongside F-16 Fighting Falcons over Greenland drew new attention to North America’s air defense posture, as reported by the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office. The footage relates to a recent NORAD “dynamic operational exercise” staged from Pituffik Space Base in October, designed to test how quickly U.S. forces can surge fifth- and fourth-generation fighters into the Arctic. This deployment comes amid intensifying military activity in the High North, where Russia’s renewed bomber and submarine presence and growing Chinese interest in Arctic routes have pushed the region back to the forefront of NATO planning. The operation over Greenland therefore, resonates well beyond a routine training event, signalling how the F-35 program is being integrated into day-to-day continental defense and alliance cooperation with Denmark.
U.S. F-35A and F-16 fighters operating from Pituffik Space Base in Greenland highlighted NORAD’s focus on rapid Arctic reinforcement. The drill reflects rising concern about Russian bomber routes and growing Chinese interest in the High North (Picture Source: F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office)
The deployment over Greenland showcased the F-35A in its role as NORAD’s newest combat aircraft, paired with F-16s to provide complementary capabilities in the demanding Arctic environment. According to official accounts, two F-35s from the 115th Fighter Wing and two F-16s, supported by three KC-135 tankers, were forward-based to Pituffik Space Base for several days, executing alert launches, patrols and refuelling sorties in extreme weather. The F-35 brings stealth, long-range sensors and secure datalinks that allow it to act both as a shooter and as an airborne sensor node for other assets. In this context, the F-35s over Greenland are not just another fighter presence: they are a flying ISR and command-and-control platform able to fuse radar, infrared and electronic emissions across a vast, sparsely equipped airspace and share that picture with NORAD and Danish command posts, while operating alongside the more numerous and familiar F-16s.
For the Wisconsin Air National Guard, the Greenland sortie is a milestone in a rapid transition from F-16 to F-35 operations. The 115th Fighter Wing only began receiving its F-35As in 2023, becoming the second Air National Guard unit to operate the fifth-generation fighter after years of flying the F-16C/D. Since then, the wing has completed intensive weapons evaluation campaigns such as Combat Archer in Florida, validating its ability to conduct live air-to-air missile firings and adapt maintenance and support procedures to the new platform. The October deployment to Pituffik Space Base extends that learning curve into the Arctic, where short-notice movements, austere infrastructure and harsh weather test both the aircraft and the support chain. It also continues a pattern that began when F-35s first operated from Greenland during earlier NORAD events such as Operation Noble Defender, progressively normalizing fifth-generation fighter presence in the High North and demonstrating that National Guard units can be integrated into front-line Arctic missions.
The exercise also offers a clear comparison between the F-35 and the F-16, still a backbone of U.S. and allied air forces. The F-16 brings proven reliability, high maneuverability and a broad weapons inventory, and remains cost-effective for many air policing and quick-reaction alert missions. In Greenland, its participation demonstrates how fourth-generation fighters can continue to shoulder a significant share of day-to-day NORAD tasks. By contrast, the F-35 adds low-observable characteristics that complicate adversary radar tracking, a more powerful sensor suite and automated sensor fusion, allowing pilots to build a coherent picture of the battlespace more quickly and at greater range. Used together, the two aircraft form a layered force, with the F-35 detecting and classifying threats early and coordinating intercepts, and F-16s and other assets providing additional mass and persistence. The Greenland mission illustrates how this mixed fleet approach can be applied in the Arctic, where long distances and limited ground infrastructure magnify the value of every sortie and where potential adversaries may rely on high-value platforms such as long-range bombers.
Strategically, the deployment underscores the centrality of Greenland to North American and NATO defense at a time when Arctic security is tightening, and it now sits in stark contrast with the Russian Tu-160 patrol recently reported by Army Recognition. The Tu-160, a large supersonic variable-geometry bomber developed in the late Soviet period, combines very long range, high speed and a payload on the order of several tens of tonnes carried in two internal bays, including long-range cruise missiles that can be fitted with conventional or nuclear warheads. Together with the Tu-95MS, it forms the core of Russia’s Long Range Aviation and the air-delivered leg of its nuclear deterrent. Its eleven-hour flight over neutral Arctic waters, announced by Moscow as a scheduled training mission, fits into a pattern of bomber patrols conducted over the Arctic, North Atlantic and Pacific that are regularly tracked and intercepted by NATO fighters. At the same time, NORAD F-35s and F-16s are being used to monitor such activity and to reinforce the Greenland–Iceland–United Kingdom gap and the wider Arctic approaches. The latest NORAD drill, publicized by the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office, therefore sends a parallel message to the Tu-160 sortie: the United States and its allies intend to sustain and modernize their presence at Pituffik Space Base and across the Greenlandic airspace corridor, while Russia continues to demonstrate that its long-range bomber fleet can operate for extended periods along key strategic corridors.
The images of Wisconsin’s F-35s and accompanying F-16s flying over Greenland with the backdrop of a rare and highly publicized Tu-160 patrol over Arctic waters signify more than routine training exercises. They represent the culmination of a National Guard unit’s transition to advanced fifth-generation airpower, demonstrating its operational capability in the critical arena of continental defense. This exercise shows how rapidly deployable and sustainable fifth-generation fighters have become crucial tools for operational readiness in a strategically sensitive Arctic region, integrating seamlessly with legacy platforms and allied forces.
Simultaneously, the Russian Tu-160 patrol underscores Moscow’s strategic assertion of long-range aviation’s power projection in the Arctic. This nuclear-capable platform’s endurance flight highlights the Arctic as a critical theater where strategic bomber missions serve both as deterrence and geopolitical signaling. The exercise underlines that any future conflict in the High North would involve air forces capable of rapid deployment, persistent surveillance, and credible long-range strike capabilities. Control over this vast and exposed airspace will increasingly hinge on the ability to combine cutting-edge technology with logistical resilience in extreme polar conditions.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
