Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, and Danish air force leaders have reportedly signed a letter of intent to establish a unified Nordic air defense to combat the growing Russian threat.
According to statements made on Friday by the armed forces of the four nations, the aim is to be able to operate together based on established operational procedures under NATO.
According to Major General Jan Dam, the commander of the Danish air force, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February of last year was the impetus for the integration of the aviation forces.
Our armada as a whole is comparable to a sizable European nation, according to Dam.
Norway currently has 57 F-16 fighter aircraft and 37 F-35s, with an additional 15 F-35s on order. While Denmark has 58 F-16s and 27 F-35s on order, Finland has 62 F/A-18 Hornet aircraft and 64 F-35s. More than 90 Gripen aircraft are in Sweden.
How many of those aircraft were active was unknown.
General James Hecker, head of NATO Air Command and commander of the US Air Force in the area, was in Germany last week.
The transatlantic defense alliance received applications from Sweden and Finland last year. However, Turkey, who along with Hungary has not yet ratified the agreements, has slowed down the procedure.
The closer cooperation was first discussed by the Nordic air force leaders in November in Sweden.
We want to see if we can better integrate our airspace surveillance so that we can pool the radar information from each other’s surveillance devices, said Dam. “That’s not what we’re doing today,”
