A JAS-39 Gripen fighter intercepted a Russian Su-24 after invading Swedish airspace on Friday afternoon (14). The violation of Swedish territory occurred on South Jutland, the largest island in the Nordic country.
This is the first time a Moscow plane has violated Swedish airspace since the country became NATO's newest member. It also comes days after the Swedish Air Force joined air policing missions over the Baltic Sea (where Jutland is located).
On Friday, the Swedish Air Force intercepted a Russian military aircraft that violated Swedish airspace east of Jutland.
– The Russian behavior is unacceptable and shows a lack of respect for our territorial integrity, says the Commander of the Swedish Air Force, Jonas Wickman. #Sawaf #wearenato pic.twitter.com/OP67FPSYBG-Forsvarsmackton (@forsvarsmackton) June 15, 2024
in NBThe Swedish Armed Forces claim that the Russian plane was alerted via radio by Air Combat Command. The plane ignored the communications and continued flying towards the island. In response, a Saab Gripen fighter was dispatched to intercept the Russian plane, later identified as a Sukhoi Su-24. Sweden says the invasion of its airspace “lasted for a short period.”
Bearing the red number 54 on its side, the aircraft is likely a Su-24MR. Called the Fencer-E by NATO, the Su-24MR is a jet reconnaissance version of the Su-24M tactical bomber. The aircraft specializes in intelligence missions such as surveillance, mapping and signal collection.
He added: “The Russian behavior is unacceptable and shows a lack of respect for our territorial integrity. We followed the entire process and were there to intervene.” says Air Force Commander Jonas Wickman.
Although Sweden claims that the invasion of its airspace lasted “for a short period”, the incident had more serious consequences. This was stated by Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom to the network on Saturday SVT Who will summon the Russian ambassador for clarification.
“Russian behavior is unacceptable. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will contact the Russian Embassy to report the incident.”“, stated the Minister. “We are in close contact with allies and partners regarding events in the vicinity.
As the portal notes the pilotIt is likely that the Russian action was intentional and not due to a navigational error. The goal may be to test the response time of Swedish Gripens in the event of rapid reaction alert or even provocation. In March this year, Sweden became a member of NATO in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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