The Swedish Armed Forces conducted its first reconnaissance missions near the Russian border since joining NATO last week.
Knewz.com has learned that the Air Force flew two Saab 340 AEW&C aircraft across the Baltic Sea and along the eastern border of Poland, according to Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Expert.
OSINT Expert tweeted the mission’s route and said, “The missions were likely conducted to gather intelligence on Russian military activity in the region.”
The Saab 340 AEW&C is an observation and survey plane, and it features a full radar system that sits on top of the plane. The two planes flown are part of an aviation intelligence unit of the Swedish Air Force.
Reconnaissance flights like this are relatively common for Sweden, and the country has been launching Russian surveillance missions since the Cold War.
However, it is notable because Sweden officially joined NATO on March 7, making the flights its first surveillance mission since the country joined the defense pact.
Additionally, the Ukrainian military news website Militarnyi reported that Russian aircraft activity had spiked in the region.
That increase in activity is likely due to Sweden’s deployment of anti-ship and radar stations on the island of Gotland.
The island is Swedish territory located directly in the middle of the Baltic Sea. It is Sweden’s final piece of territory before the Baltic region, and the island’s location allows Stockholm to exercise complete control over regional airspace and navigation through the sea.
Gotland was briefly occupied by Russia in 1808, and was fortified during the Cold War. But, it was largely ignored after the collapse of the Soviet Union when the threat of a Russian attack seemed unlikely, according to WorldCrunch.
When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, it sent troops to the island and, by 2019, had built a surface-to-air defense system there.
Now, as a new NATO member, Sweden is trying to reinvest more money in the island’s defense.
Last week, Sweden became NATO’s 32nd member, which was a remarkable shift in the country’s policy due to insecurities created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Before the invasion, public support to join NATO had hovered between 20-30% for decades, and the decision ended a 200-year-old non-alignment policy.
The country recently participated in major military exercises involving 20,000 troops called Nordic Response 2024.
Sweden was not technically a member of NATO at that moment, but it was simply navigating the final bureaucratic requirements for joining the alliance.
“Thanks to the NATO accession of Finland – and eventually Sweden – we are now expanding the exercise to a Nordic Response with wider participation from other Allies,” said Brigadier Tron Strand of the Royal Norwegian Air Force during the drills.
When Sweden joined NATO, Moscow threatened the country and alliance that any nuclear weapons that appeared in northern Europe would be considered threats and thus legitimate targets for attack.
Those statements came after Finland President Alexander Stubb said that one advantage of its recent NATO membership is it could have a “real” nuclear deterrent, hinting that the U.S. could station nuclear weapons in the country.
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Author: Kevin McSpadden
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