The Swedish aircraft will reinforce Finland’s air-surveillance capacity across the Baltic Sea region. Their presence will allow the Finnish military to reserve more of its own resources for responding to potential airspace violations and other incidents.
The Finnish Defence Forces said Finland was not facing a direct military threat. It said some drones used in Ukraine’s large-scale attacks against targets across Russia had nevertheless strayed into Finnish airspace and territory.
Finland expects those attacks to continue in the near term, requiring it to maintain greater readiness for an extended period. The cooperation with Sweden is intended to strengthen Finland’s capacity to protect its territory without placing the full burden on its own forces.
Sweden will also assign a Visby-class corvette to surveillance and territorial-protection duties in the Baltic Sea. The naval contribution will complement the Gripen deployment and extend the arrangement across both the air and maritime domains.
The Finnish Defence Forces said closer cooperation would strengthen security in northern Europe and reinforce NATO’s eastern flank. It is also expected to improve Finnish and Swedish interoperability during peacetime, emergencies and other disruptions.
The two countries already cooperate across their armies, air forces and navies, including through regular cross-border air training and the development of a recognised maritime picture. Their relationship has expanded further since both became NATO members.
Finland and Sweden also work with Norway and Denmark under the Nordic Air Power concept. The initiative is designed to improve the four air forces’ ability to operate together in support of NATO’s collective defence.
