Finland and Sweden conduct first joint air identification mission

Finnish and Swedish Quick Reaction Alert fighter jets conducted their first joint operational identification mission on September 24, identifying a Russian aircraft formation in international airspace over the Gulf of Finland, according to the Finnish Air Force. The mission involved aircraft from both countries being scrambled to locate and identify the formation; the supplied accounts do not describe an encounter inside either country’s territorial airspace. The Finnish Air Force said the Russian group comprised a Tu-134 transport aircraft, MiG-31 fighters and Su-30 fighters. It said the joint mission was the first operational identification carried out together by the Finnish and Swedish air forces. The reports provide no independent flight data or operational records to verify the aircraft identification or circumstances, and no Russian account of the mission was supplied. The operation followed years of recurring cross-border training between the two air forces. Finland’s Air Force said cooperation has since expanded, enabling joint identification missions and allowing either country’s fighters to operate from bases in the other country when needed.