Finnish F/A-18 Hornet fighters and Swedish JAS 39 Gripen fighters scrambled together on 24 September to identify a formation of Russian military aircraft over international airspace in the Gulf of Finland, the Finnish Air Force said in a statement published 25 September. According to the Finnish Air Force, the Russian formation comprised a Tupolev Tu-134 transport aircraft, NATO reporting name "Crusty," escorted by MiG-31 "Foxhound" and Su-30 "Flanker-H" fighter jets. According to the Finnish Air Force, its Air Operations Centre directed the mission.
According to the Finnish Air Force, this was the first-ever joint Finnish-Swedish operational identification mission. According to the Finnish Air Force, the Russian aircraft remained in international airspace throughout, and no hostile manoeuvres or airspace violation were reported. No Russian Ministry of Defence statement has addressed the mission as of this writing.
What the mission confirmed
Colonel Vesa Mäntylä, deputy chief of staff at Air Force Command Finland, said the two air forces "are responsible for the surveillance and protection of territorial integrity of their nations' airspace," and that "the deeper cooperation that began this autumn enables joint identification missions and allows QRA [quick reaction alert] fighter jets to operate from the other country's air bases." Major General Jonas Wikman, commander of the Swedish Air Force, called it proof that the two nations "can now operate seamlessly together, as air forces, as nations and as Allies." Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote on X that the Baltic Sea "has never been as vulnerable as it is now, but it has also never been better protected than it is right now."
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A crowded threat picture
The mission came the same day Denmark's Defence Intelligence Service chief Thomas Ahrenkiel said there is a "low but growing risk" Russia could launch a limited attack on a NATO state bordering Russia, while calling a full invasion "highly unlikely." It also followed a Russian Mi-8 helicopter's 42-second incursion into Polish airspace near Braniewo on 23 September, which Polish command said appeared to test its defences, and the 15 September incident in which a Russian frigate fired flares at a Danish helicopter over the Baltic Sea. These remain separate, individually attributed incidents.
Nordic air defence, one month on
Within weeks of announcing deeper cooperation, Helsinki and Stockholm demonstrated it functions in practice, according to their own statements. Whether Moscow was specifically probing that mechanism, or simply continuing established patrol routines, remains unconfirmed.
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