Fighter aircraft from Sweden and Finland flew to escort Russian fighters flying over neutral Baltic waters.

This was reported on the official website of the NATO Air Command.

The escort of the Russian fighter aircraft took place on July 15, after NATO’s Joint Air Operations Center in Ouedem, Germany, reported two Russian fighter jets flying from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia.

In addition to the German radar detection and tracking post, Russian aircraft were also accompanied by radar units from Sweden and Finland.

After the Finnish and Swedish air operations centers were unable to contact the Russian fighters, rapid response patrols were alerted to escort the Russian planes, identify them, and request their course.

In addition, the Russian fighter aircraft did not communicate with civilian controllers and flew with their transponders turned off, which violates international aviation regulations.

It should be noted that the escort of Russian fighter aircraft by Swedish and Finnish fighters demonstrates the close cooperation between these countries and NATO’s air command.

Due to the increased number of Russian aircraft flying from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia, NATO is trying to ensure that it can respond to such threats as quickly as possible.

As Russian aviation operates in international waters of the Baltic Sea without coordinating with civilian controllers, their flights may pose a threat to civil aviation.

As Militarnyi previously reported, an F/A-18 Hornet escorting Russian Su-30SM fighter jets performed a dangerous maneuver, “clipping” one of the sides.

During a routine flight, a pair of Russian Su-30SMs met with an F/A-18 fighter jet that flew to escort them.

The video’s authors did not provide detailed information about the situation. However, given the involvement of a relatively rare F/A-18, it is safe to assume that the incident took place near Finnish territorial waters.