A Swedish Air Force pilot climbs aboard his Saab JAS 39 Gripen C fighter for the service's first air-defence mission under NATO control, announced on 29 October. (Swedish Armed Forces)
Sweden has flown its first NATO-controlled air-defence mission since joining the alliance earlier in 2024.
The Swedish Armed Forces announced the milestone on 29 October, saying Saab JAS 39 Gripen C combat aircraft had for the first time been tasked to defend allied airspace as part of the NATO Joint Incident Response Force.
“Earlier this year, Sweden underwent a validation process in which the [Swedish] Air Force [SwAF] was approved for operations in NATO's incident preparedness. The air force's incident preparedness is now an integral part of NATO's air defence,” the Swedish Armed Forces said.
As noted in the announcement, this event was controlled “from one of NATO's command centres in Europe”. The Swedish Armed Forces did not disclose where the mission took place, but the air defence of NATO's northern regions is controlled out of the Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) at Uedem in Germany, while its southern regions are controlled by the CAOC at Torrejón in Spain.
With Sweden having joined NATO on 7 March, the deputy commander of the SwAF, Brigadier General Tommy Petersson, told Janes and other defence media in May that his country would be looking to take up its full quota of NATO missions, including air policing. “It could be Baltic Air Policing or some of the others – NATO now has so many in the Baltic states, in Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, and air policing up in Iceland. Will Sweden take its responsibility and take part in one of those missions soon? Yes, but which one I can't comment on yet,” he said.
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