A pair of Russian naval fighter jets were intercepted by a Dassault Falcon DA-20 jet and a P-3C Orion four-engine maritime patrol jet from the Royal Norwegian Air Force. The event was revealed by NATO on Friday (15).
According to the Air Command of the US-led military alliance, the Russian planes – a Sukhoi Su-33 Flanker-D and a Mikoyan MiG-29K Fulcrum-D – were intercepted by Norwegian planes while flying close to NATO airspace in the north. from Europe.
In the tweet, the military still “joked”: “It is not just fighter jets that intercept and identify Russian activity.”
It's not only Fighter jets that intercept and identify #Russian activity@NATO's Eye in the North, @Luftforsvaret 🇳🇴 P3-C Orion & DA-20 Jet Falcon intercepted 🇷🇺 SU-33 Flanker D & MiG-29K Fulcrum flying close to Allied air space in the High North#SecuringTheSkies pic.twitter.com/wpOKy46tr4
ADVERTISING — NATO Air Command (@NATO_AIRCOM) July 15, 2022
Interceptions are usually carried out by other fighter planes, such as the F-35 Lightning II in the case of Norway. In this way, the use of a P-3 and a DA-20 Falcon to intercept and accompany Russian fighters draws attention, especially due to the disparity in performance between the different aircraft models.
The Norwegian Air Force's P-3C and Dassault Falcon are being replaced by the Boeing P-8 Poseidon.
On the Russian side, the Su-33 and MiG-29 are Naval Aviation Command fighter planes. The Su-33 is operated by the 279th Airborne Fighter Aviation Regiment. The MIG-29K is operated by the 100th Independent Fighter Aviation Regiment. The two units are headquartered at Severomorsk-3 air base in Murmasnk Oblast in northwest Russia.
