Finland, Sweden identify Russian aircraft in Int´l airspace over Gulf of Finland

Finnish and Swedish Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) fighter jets were scrambled to intercept and identify Russian military aircraft in international airspace over the Gulf of Finland on Thursday, said Finnish Defence Forces in a press release on Friday.

This was the first joint operational identification mission for the Finnish and Swedish air forces.

The identification mission was conducted as a part of Finland’s and Sweden’s cooperation in surveillance and protection of territorial integrity.

Led by the Finnish Air Force’s Air Operations Centre, the mission involved Finnish F/A-18 Hornet and Swedish JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets.

The Finnish and Swedish QRA jets intercepted and identified a Russian detachment consisting of a Tu-134 transport aircraft (NATO reporting name “Crusty”), MiG-31 fighter jets (“Foxhound”) and Su-30 fighter jets (“Flanker-H”) in international airspace over the Gulf of Finland.

“The Finnish and Swedish air forces are responsible for the surveillance and protection of territorial integrity of their nations’ airspace. The deeper cooperation that began this autumn enables joint identification missions and allows QRA fighter jets to operate from the other country’s air bases,” said Colonel Vesa Mäntylä, Deputy Chief of Staff, Air Force Command Finland.

“This is what close cooperation looks like in practice. Built over years on trust and strong personal relationships, we can now operate seamlessly together – as air forces, as nations and as Allies,” said Major General Jonas Wikman, Commander of the Swedish Air Force.