Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF -Luftforsvaret) F-35A stealth fighters intercepted a Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer attack jet and a Mikoyan MiG-31 Foxhound interceptor, both from the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS), last Thursday ( 26) in Northern European skies.
According to Luftforsvaret, the Russian jets were detected by the CRC (Centre for Control and Report) Sørreisa flying near Finnmark, in the far north of the country. The F-35 Lightning II were dispatched to identify and accompany the planes, which did not violate Norwegian airspace, heading east after the interception.
F-35 identified two Russian aircraft north of Finnmark today. CRC Sørreisa reported the aircraft, and NATO ordered our F-35s on their wings. The Russian aircraft flew to the Norwegian Sea before returning east. F-35 is on permanent readiness for Norway and #NATO. #WeAreNATO #f35 pic.twitter.com/W41icYnhVK
— Royal Norwegian Air Force (@Luftforsvaret) May 26, 2022
Quoted by British newspapers The Sun and The Mirror, Stine Barclay Gaasland, spokesman for the Norwegian Air Force, said the Russian jets could have provoked "more aggressive action" if they entered Norwegian airspace.
The modern F-35s took over the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) service from Luftforsvaret in January this year, taking the place of the now retired F-16 Fighting Falcon.
Despite being common, interceptions of Russian planes by NATO have taken on greater proportions due to the country's invasion of Ukraine, in addition to threats against Sweden and Finland, which want to the US-led military alliance.
Moscow, which shares a 1280km border with Finland, said Helsinki's NATO hip would be a mistake that would damage ties between countries. Meanwhile, public for hip has grown in Sweden due to security concerns.
Earlier this month, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto called Putin to talk about Finland's plans to the alliance. Putin said such a move would harm Finnish-Russian relations.
“I, or Finland, are not known for sneaking up and disappearing silently around a corner. It's better to say directly what has already been said, also to the interested party and that's what I wanted to do”, said the Finn about his call with the Russian leader.
