Finland and Sweden Scramble Fighter Jets Together Against Russia in Historic First
Finnish and Swedish fighter jets scrambled for the first time on Sept. 24 to intercept supersonic Russian military aircraft flying over the Gulf of Finland, marking a major milestone in Nordic defense cooperation amid heightened tensions with Moscow.
The mission also came one day before Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed European warnings about the threat from Moscow in the region and mocked Estonia’s new defense minister over the Baltic state’s preparations for a potential Russian attack.
Finnish F/A-18 Hornets and Swedish JAS 39 Gripens were scrambled after Russian aircraft were detected in the international airspace, according to the Swedish Armed Forces.
The Russian formation included a Tu-134 transport plane, a high-altitude, supersonic MiG-31 interceptor designed to detect and engage long-range threats; and Su-30 multirole fighter jets which are designed for air-to-air and air-to-ground combat.
“This is what close cooperation looks like in practice,” Maj. Gen. Jonas Wikman, commander of the Swedish Air Force, said in a statement following the joint operation. (Read more from “Finland and Sweden Scramble Fighter Jets Together Against Russia in Historic First” HERE)
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