hw_9c82e797d29f0145

Finnish, Swedish and NATO fighters identify large Russian military formation over the Gulf of Finland.

On 24 September 2026, NATO and Nordic Quick Reaction Alert aircraft intercepted a comparatively large Russian formation travelling through international airspace from Kaliningrad toward mainland Russia. Lithuania’s Ministry of National Defence identifies the formation as three MiG-31s, one Tu-134, one Su-30SM and three Su-30M2 aircraft, or eight aircraft in total. None had pre-filed flight plans and all had their onboard transponders switched off; only the Tu-134 maintained radio communication with regional air-traffic control. Finnish F/A-18 Hornets and Swedish JAS 39 Gripens participated in the identification over the Gulf of Finland, marking the first joint operational identification mission by the Finnish and Swedish air forces. The Swedish Armed Forces independently confirmed that the Russian formation included a Tu-134 transport aircraft, MiG-31 fighters and Su-30 fighters and that it remained in international airspace.

Occurrence

2026-09-24

Publication

2026-09-24

First observed

2026-10-05T14:29:15.028Z

Review status

Not assessed

Countries

EE, FI, SE

Updated

2026-10-05T16:30:16.433Z