A Russian Su-24 aircraft breached Swedish airspace east of the southern tip of Gotland on June 14, 2024.
The Swedish air combat command issued a verbal warning to the Russian aircraft, which was ignored. Consequently, a pair of Swedish JAS-39 Gripen jets intercepted and escorted the intruding aircraft.
“The Russian action is not acceptable and shows a lack of respect for our territorial integrity. We followed the entire process and were there to intervene,” stated Swedish Air Force Chief Jonas Wikman.
The aircraft involved was likely a Su-24MR (NATO reporting name: Fencer-E), a tactical reconnaissance variant of the variable-sweep wing two-seater and twin-engine supersonic aircraft developed in the Soviet Union in the late 1960s.
NATO’s Allied Air Command reported increased Russian activities in the Baltic Sea, likely related to NATO’s BALTOPS 2024 exercise, taking place in the area from June 7 to 20, 2024.
The Finnish Border Guard announced that a flight group of four Russian aircraft, namely two bombers and two fighters, had flown 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) into Finnish territory near Loviisa on Jue 10, 2024.