A Russian Su-24 jet was intercepted by a JAS-39 Gripen fighter after invading Swedish airspace on Friday afternoon (14). The violation of Swedish territory occurred in the south of Gotland, the largest island in the Nordic country.
This is the first time that a Moscow aircraft has violated Swedish airspace since the country became NATO's newest member. It also comes days after the Swedish Air Force ed the air policing missions of the Baltic Sea (where Gotland is).
On Friday Swedish Air Force intercepted a Russian military air craft violating Swedish air space east of Gotland.
– The Russian act is unacceptable and shows a lack of respect for our territorial integrity, says commander of the Swedish air force, Jonas Wikman. #swaf #wearenato pic.twitter.com/OP67FPSYBG— Forsvarsmakten (@Forsvarsmakten) June 15, 2024
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Em note, the Swedish Armed Forces claim that the Russian plane was alerted via radio by Air Combat Command. The aircraft ignored communications and continued flying towards the island. In response, a Saab Gripen fighter was sent to intercept the Russian plane, later identified as a Sukhoi Su-24. Sweden says the invasion of its airspace “lasted a short time”.
Carrying the red number 54 on the side, it is possible that the aircraft is a Su-24MR. Called the Fencer-E by NATO, the Su-24MR is a jet reconnaissance variant of the Su-24M tactical bomber. The aircraft specializes in intelligence missions such as surveillance, mapping and signal collection.
“Russian action is unacceptable and demonstrates a lack of respect for our territorial integrity. We followed the entire process and were there to intervene”, says the head of the Air Force, Jonas Wikman.
Although Sweden claims that the invasion of its airspace lasted “a short time”, the incident had more serious consequences. This Saturday, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström informed the network SVT who will summon the Russian ambassador for explanations.
“Russian behavior is unacceptable. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will call the Russian Embassy to report the incident.”, said the minister. “We are in close with allies and partners about events in the immediate area.
As noted by the portal The Aviationist, it is more likely that the Russian action was intentional than due to a navigational error. The objective may be to test the response time of Swedish Gripens in quick reaction alert or even a provocation. In March of this year, Sweden became a member of NATO in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
