US B-52s On First Time Mission Over Northern Finland, Russia Scrambles MiG Jets
The US military has sent two B-52 bombers over northern Finland on Sunday in a historic first and in a clear strong message aimed at Russia. Finland entered the NATO alliance in April of 2023 and this marks the first big act of military cooperation with NATO and the US over its territory.
The bombers entered Finland from Norway's northern region, linking up with Finnish fighter jets for the rest of the flight. "Today, Finland has implemented cooperation with the strategic bombers of the United States in the territory of Finland," Finnish defense minister Antti Häkkänen announced.
"It is a normal cooperation carried out in the territory of a NATO member country and it demonstrate the basic pillar of common defense and deterrence," Häkkänen said.
But as the Barents Observer underscores, this flight was an unprecedented first: "But two B-52 strategic bombers over northern Finland is far from normal," the publication writes. "It has never happened before and shows the fundamental change in geopolitics following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022."
Separately, the Kremlin said that Russian forces scrambled Mig-29 and MiG-31 fighter jets as the bombers made their way north of Finland, over the Barents Sea.
"As the Russian fighters approached, the U.S. strategic bombers turned away from the State Border of the Russian Federation," the Kremlin stated.
The Russian warplanes "safely returned to their base airfields," it added. "The flight of the Russian fighters was carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace over neutral waters, observing safety measures."
Last week NATO announced that as an initial step and development in military cooperation, the alliance's two newest members have been integrated into NATO air policing of the Baltic Sea.
.@FinnishAirForce flew a training mission with two 🇺🇸 B-52 bombers today.
— Puolustusvoimat (@Puolustusvoimat) July 21, 2024
🇫🇮 F/A-18 Hornet multirole fighters flew with the 🇺🇸bombers from Lapland to Gulf of Finland where the bombers continued their mission with 🇩🇪 Eurofighters involved in Nato’s BAP mission. #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/uIvAKYTHZn
Already this involves the two (previously and historically neutral) Nordic countries 'confronting' Russia. According to a NATO statement from July 16, "NATO’s Combined Air Operation Centre at Uedem, Germany, reported two Russian fighter aircraft flying over international waters in the Baltic Sea from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia on July 15."
It added, "The aircraft were also tracked by Finnish and Swedish air operation centers, and both Allies launched their quick reaction alert (QRA) forces to intercept the Russian military aircraft."