As soon as Sweden joined NATO, JAS 39 Fighters Intercepted Russian Airplanes

Sweden officially became the 32nd member of NATO after the completion of the accession process in Washington. Sweden, which applied to become a member of NATO along with Finland on May 18, 2022, following the start of the Russian-Ukrainian War, only took place two years later, on March 7, due to the reservations of Turkey and Hungary.

It is noteworthy that Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, speaking at the ceremony held on March 7, stated that "The security situation in the region has never been this serious since World War II, and Sweden joined NATO to both provide and gain security." Complementing the ceremony on March 7, the ceremony for Sweden's membership in NATO was held on March 11 at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Following the membership of Finland, which has a 1340-kilometer land border with Russia, on April 3, 2023, with the accession of Sweden, the gap in the puzzle on NATO's northern wing was virtually completed.

With membership, the Swedish Air Force became part of NATO Alert Reaction Missions. NATO countries are not sending troops to Ukraine or using their air forces to enforce a no-fly zone over the region because it could lead to a direct conflict with Russia. In addition to Russian warplanes flying over the Arctic, North Atlantic, Black Sea and Baltic Sea, especially around Russian territory Kaliningrad, the flights of intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance planes in regions close to the borders of NATO member countries are closely monitored by NATO.

NATO is increasing its defense against Russia

At the 2023 meeting held with the participation of the Chiefs of General Staff of NATO member countries, a common understanding was reached to be prepared against possible Russian attacks in the Arctic and North Atlantic, Central Europe or the Mediterranean region. At this meeting, NATO also announced that it planned to increase the number of its troops in high readiness in Europe from 40 thousand to more than 300 thousand. In addition to this declaration, NATO has actually demonstrated that it intends to closely monitor Russian military movements by transferring eight battle groups to various bases within the scope of defense measures in the regions close to the Russian border in Eastern Europe.

It is currently conducting an exercise with the participation of many NATO countries that will last until the end of May. The exercise called Steadfast Defender is important as it is one of NATO's largest military exercises to date. The exercise was designed to model possible maneuvers against an enemy likened to a Russian-led coalition, dubbed Occasus for the purposes of the exercise.

The Steadfast Defender 2024 exercise, which started on January 22, with the participation of more than 90,000 soldiers, 50 warships and warplanes from 31 member countries and Sweden, continues by extending from Russia's land border with Norway to its sea border with Romania. The Polish part of Exercise Steadfast Defender 24, which was carried out with the participation of 9 NATO countries including Turkey, was completed on March 17.

Undoubtedly, it would be unthinkable for the target country, Russia, to remain silent during an exercise of this magnitude. As a matter of fact, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova warned that NATO's Steadfast Defender exercise was "provocative" and could lead to "tragic consequences" for Europe.

Allied warplanes, meanwhile, are regularly taking off in alert reaction take-offs to intercept, detect and identify, and even track, if necessary, Russian aircraft flying in international airspace close to NATO territory over the Baltic Sea and other sensitive areas.

Swedish Warplanes Given First Alarm Reaction Take Off Mission Against Russians

On March 11, Sweden, as the 32nd member of the Alliance, was hoisted in the ceremony area in front of NATO Headquarters in Brussels, where the flags of all member countries waved, while at the same time, the first take-off of Swedish alarm reaction planes against Russian planes seen over the Baltic Sea was made. was carried out.

On the morning of March 11, Allied radar operators detected a trail of unidentified, unreported aircraft over the Baltic Sea heading from Kaliningrad towards the Russian mainland. The chief controller, who works at the scope at NATO's Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) in Uedem, Germany; In addition to the Swedish JAS-39 Gripen multi-role warplanes allocated to NATO, the F-16AM warplanes of the Belgian Air Force stationed at the Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania were also instructed to make a scramble takeoff. As a result of the interception carried out by Scramble planes, they visually identified that the unidentified track flying in the region actually belonged to the Russian Tupolev Tu-134 “Crusty” military aircraft.

Later on the same day, after another trace was detected over the Baltic, Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft of the German Air Force in Lielvarde, Latvia, were lifted to scramble. Sweden's JAS-39 Gripen aircraft were again sent to the region for support. This time, it was understood through visual identification that the trace detected belonged to an Antonov An-26 transport aircraft belonging to the Russian Aerospace Forces.

Despite NATO measures, Russia continues to exercise its right to conduct scheduled flights over the international waters of the Baltic and Caspian Seas. In some cases, Russia deploys special missions or bombers as part of a package arm. For example, a mission flight a week ago used Su-30SM and Su-35S interceptor aircraft in escort of Tu-22M3 long-range bombers. On the other hand, the presence of a MiG-31 fighter jet with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile in the package was read as an indication of what kind of self-confidence and preparedness level Russia has against NATO.

In the statement made by Russia regarding the mentioned package arm, it was stated that "Long-range aircraft belonging to the Russian Aerospace Forces carry out scheduled flights over the international waters of the Baltic and Caspian Seas."

Russian aircraft continue to regularly fly over the international waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, Black and Baltic seas and the Pacific Ocean. Russia maintains that all such flights are carried out in strict compliance with international rules on the use of airspace.

References

BBC News, “İsveç NATO'ya resmen katıldı: 'Birlik ve beraberlik yol gösterici ışığımız'”, 7 Mart 2024, https://www.bbc.com/turkce/articles/cyrzgd3r7epo#:~:text=İsveç%2C%20Washington%27da%20katılım%20sürecinin,başvurudan%20iki%20yıl%20sonra%20gerçekleşti

Doğan Özgüden, “NATO'nun ve Almanya'nın savaş çılgınlığı”, Artı Gerçek, 13 Şubat 2024, https://artigercek.com/makale/natonun-ve-almanyanin-savas-cilginligi-283937

Jurnal.ist, “Mehmetçik Polonya’da Steadfast Defender 24 Tatbikatı'na katıldı”, 17 Mart 2024, https://www.gzt.com/jurnalist/mehmetcik-polonyada-steadfast-defender-24-tatbikatina-katildi-3785279

Kyiv Post, “Sweden Scrambles to Intercept Russian Aircraft Within Hours of NATO Flag Raising”, 14 Mart 2024, https://www.kyivpost.com/post/29476