According to the Swedish Armed Forces, two Swedish Air Force Gripen fighter jets were recently scrambled to identify a pair of Russian aircraft flying near Swedish airspace (more about Gripen fighters can be found here).
The incident occurred late last week, when the Gripens were spotted over Malmö in southern Sweden. Reports of aerial activity quickly surfaced in local media. “These were not training flights,” said Swedish Armed Forces spokesperson Mikael Ögren. “We identified other aircraft.” He confirmed that the Gripen fighters were launched after two Russian Su-30SM “Flanker” multirole jets were detected operating in international airspace over the southern Baltic Sea.
The Swedish military did not confirm whether the Russian aircraft approached Swedish airspace but noted that such incidents occur “fairly often.” According to the TT news agency, the Swedish Gripens returned to base in under an hour.
The Su-30SM is a multirole fighter used by the Russian Navy’s naval aviation branch, capable of conducting long-range operations. It is frequently involved in patrol and interception missions over international waters. In this case, the jets were reportedly armed with Kh-31P (AS-17 Krypton) anti-radiation missiles.
The recent incident adds to a growing list of airspace patrol missions conducted by Sweden, which remains on heightened alert amid increased Russian military aircraft activity in the region following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Swedish Armed Forces did not provide further operational details, but spokesperson Mikael Ögren confirmed that all actions taken were “within standard procedure.”
We recently reported that two Swedish Air Force Gripen fighters, operating under NATO’s enhanced air policing mission, intercepted a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft. The interception took place over the Baltic Sea in international airspace. The Swedish jets were based in Malbork, a city in northern Poland. This incident occurred nearly a month after six Saab JAS39 Gripen C fighters were deployed as part of Sweden’s first NATO mission following its accession to the alliance.
Source: defence-blog
