Swedish Recon Plane Violates Russian Airspace; Su-27 Flankers Scrambled

A Swedish Air Force Gulfstream reconnaissance jet reportedly violated Russian airspace on January 24th 2019, with the Russian Air Force responding by scrambling Su-27 Flankers to intercept the aircraft. The incident reportedly occurred over the Baltic Sea close to the Russian border, and the Gulfstream reportedly had its transponder turned off. The Russian Defence Ministry stated regarding the incident: “The Russian equipment controlling the airspace spotted an aerial target over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea that was approaching the Russian state border. Su-27 jet… was scrambled to intercept the target”

Swedish Air Force Gulfstream Reconnaissance Aircraft

Tensions between Russia and Sweden have increased in recent years, with the latter aligning its foreign policy more closely with NATO and investing heavily in expanding its warfighting capability aimed squarely at preparing for a potentially conflict with its eastern neighbour. Stockholm has sought to double both its military spending and its manpower by 2035 as a direct result of growing tensions with Russia. The European country has also invested heavily in acquiring American Patriot missile batteries to secure its airspace against potential Russian strikes.

Patriot Missile Battery

The Su-27 Flanker air superiority fighter currently forms the mainstay of the Russian fighter fleet, with over 350 currently in service. While the design dates back to 1985, and was developed by the Soviet Union to overcome the elite of the American fighter fleet, the fighters have since been upgraded considerably to the Su-27SM2 and SM3 standard. This provides the fighters  '4+ generation' capabilities, including state of the art avionics and engines and an Irbis-E radar. A number of technologies from the Russian Su-35 have been integrated onto their airframes to enhance their air to air combat capabilities, and the fleet is currently being equipped with advanced long range air to air munitions such as the R-27ER. Sweden for its part lacks any comparable air superiority fighters of its own - with its sole fighter class the Gripen being a light single engine jet with less than half the weight of the Russian Flanker. This will place Swedish fighter squadrons at a considerable qualitative disadvantage should Flankers move to engage them.