In a new episode in the Baltic Sea, Swedish Air Force Gripen fighters intercepted a Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft from the Russian Aerospace Forces, which briefly violated sovereign airspace. The information was disclosed yesterday, June 15, through an official statement from the Swedish Armed Forces.
According to reports from the morning, during operations on June 14, the presence of a Russian aircraft on an approach course to Swedish airspace was detected. This development was alerted by the Scandinavian country’s air traffic controllers, who unsuccessfully tried to establish radio contact with the aircraft to prevent a potential violation of sovereign airspace south of the island of Gotland.
Since there was no response and the airspace violation was confirmed, Swedish Air Force Gripen fighters were alerted and deployed to intercept the Russian aircraft. Officially released images revealed that it was a supersonic attack aircraft Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO code name Fencer).
Intercepted by the Swedish Gripens, the Su-24 was forced to leave sovereign airspace, in an incident similar to one in 2022 involving two Su-27s and two Su-24s also south of the island of Gotland.
Although of short duration, the Chief of the Swedish Air Force, Major General Jonas Wikman, highlighted the seriousness of the situation by officially declaring: “Russian behavior is unacceptable and shows a lack of respect for our territorial integrity. We followed the entire process and were present to intervene.”
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