Finnish and Swedish fighter jets were deployed together for the first time to identify Russian military aircraft in international airspace, the Finnish Air Force said.
STOCKHOLM >> Finland and Sweden said on Friday they had scrambled fighter jets to intercept and identify Russian military aircraft in international airspace over the Gulf of Finland, in the first such joint operation by the two Nordic countries.
The joint September mission follows a serious encounter on June 12, when Sweden was forced to scramble its Gripen jets twice in a single day to intercept Russian Su-24 Fencer and Su-34 Fullback strike aircraft operating aggressively close to Swedish airspace.
Finnish F/A-18 Hornets and Swedish Gripens scrambled jointly for the first time to intercept supersonic Russian military jets over the Gulf of Finland.
