Sweden's armed forces said two Russian bombers escorted by fighter jets were spotted off the coast of the Baltic Sea. As part of the intervention, the Swedish Air Force received two Jas Gripen fighters. This was previously done by the Finns and the Dutch, who operated as part of NATO's air police mission.
The Swedish Armed Forces announced on Tuesday that they had detected two Russian Tu-22 bombers (NATO code: Backfire) in the Baltic Sea, escorted by two Su-27 (Flanker) fighter jets.
As part of the intervention, the Swedish Air Force received two Jas Gripen fighters. Photo documents are published on the website www.forsvarsmakten.se. “There was no violation of (Swedish) airspace,” Swedish air force spokeswoman Therese Akerstedt said.
Swedish Jas GripenX / Forsvarsmakten fighters
Cooperation of NATO countries
As stated in the statement, before the Russian planes entered the international airspace east of Gotland, they came under the control of the Allies.
In the Gulf of Finland, the Russians were intercepted by a Finnish F-18 (Hornet) and then followed by a Dutch F-35 (Lightning II) flying a NATO air policing mission.
In the statement of the Swedish Air Force, it is noted that the cooperation of the NATO countries allowed the fighters of different countries to successfully fulfill this task.
main image credit: X / Forsvarsmakten
