Nordic countries to create joint air defense against the Russian threat

Europe, News March 26, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Air Force chiefs from Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark signed a joint letter of intent on March 25, 2023, to create a unified air defense alliance to better cope with the emanating aerial threat from Russia.

The announcement about the joint air defense came from the air chiefs of the four Nordic countries as they met in Germany at the U.S.-controlled Ramstein Air Base. The meeting was also attended by General James Hecker who is the head of U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) and NATO’s Allied Air Command and U.S. Air Forces Africa (AFAFRICA).

A joint statement released by the four air force commanders, it was stated that the declaration of intent strengthens Nordic cooperation and paves the way for further strengthening of the Nordic air forces.”

The statement also said that “the ultimate goal is to be able to operate seamlessly together as one force by developing a Nordic concept for joint air operations based on already-known NATO methodology.”

A publicly released version of the letter of intent was termed as Nordic Warfighting Concept for Joint Air Operation. The plan does not highlight a timeline for achieving specific goals, however, it says that the concept shall be developed utilizing NATO methodology and compromises the major delivery of the currently ongoing work to bolster all the existing efforts within the Nordic Air cooperation.

The concept is aimed at pursuing four lines of efforts highlighted in the document

1. Integrated Air C2, Air Operations Planning and Execution

2. Flexible and Resilient Air Basing

3. Shared Air Situational Awareness

4. Common Air Education, Training & Exercises

Among the four countries, there are more than 300 advanced fighter jets, as well as training, transport, and surveillance aircraft and helicopters. Norway would contribute to the Nordic air defense with its fleet of F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters air jets standing at 52 active-duty jets. Finland has 62 F/A-18 fighter jets and 64 F-35 fighter jets in the pipeline scheduled to join the air force in 2026.

*^{The four Norwegian F-35s from Ørland, Norway at Keflavik Air Base conducting flights in the High North. (Image Credit: Ole Andreas Vekve/Royal Norwegian Armed Forces)}*

Denmark is also set to receive the first batch of its 27 F-35 jets, while its air force operates 58 F-16 fighter jets. Sweden has around 70 JAS-39 Gripen jets. The Swedish air force plans to convert its fleet into enhanced Gripen-E jets in the coming years.

A specific timeline for the execution of Nordic air defense is subject to Sweden and Finland’s permanent membership in the NATO alliance. Sweden and Finland have applied to join the transatlantic military alliance, however, their membership process has been held up by Turkey, which along with Hungary has yet to ratify the inclusion into the group.