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May 5, 2021 at 10:05 local time, nothing less than Danish military history was written, when the test pilot MON, as the first Dane, successfully flew a Danish F-35 fighter. 

The highlight of his career

The flight itself took about 90 minutes and featured a ride around Arizona's red desert. MON was accompanied by an American and Dutch F-35 aircraft from the squadron nicknamed "Emerald Knights". It was a clearly proud and enthusiastic MON who, shortly after his flight, put into words the historic achievement: “To be allowed to be the first Dane to fly the Armed Forces' new fighter aircraft is a huge thing. There is a large and enormously talented team behind it, which has at least as much credit for making this possible, ”says MON. However, he also admits that for him personally it is a milestone beyond the usual:

“I have tried many exciting things in my more than 25 years as a fighter pilot in the Air Force, but this is one of the big highlights, if not the biggest. Both on the professional level, because it has been an educational and challenging task to have to learn to fly a new aircraft, but of course also on the personal level, because it marks the starting shot for the next 30-40 years with the F-35 in the Danish air force. ”

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MON's flight in the Danish F-35 was his second trip in the F-35 in connection with the retraining from F-16 to F-35, and in the coming days several flights await before the trip goes home to Denmark again. Here, it will be MON's task to share his new knowledge and prepare the Danish F-16 pilots who will soon begin their retraining in Arizona in the USA.

Denmark's first aircraft will be in the United States

As the plan is now, the first seven Danish F-35 fighter jets will remain in the USA at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, where they will be used for retraining and training of Danish pilots. In 2023, the first Danish aircraft will arrive in Denmark, from where they will operate from Skrydstrup Air Base in Southern Jutland.