Copenhagen – Friday, 03/24/2023 – 18:29
The air force commanders of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark announced this Friday the signing of the declaration in order to create a single Nordic air defense to meet the growing threat from Russia. Concordia seeks to organize its forces so that they can work together, as is done under the umbrella of NATO, according to the armed forces of the four nations. The plan to integrate air forces is a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year, according to the head of the Danish air force, Maj. Gen. Jan Dam
“Our combined fleet can be compared with a large European country,” Dam said. Norway has 57 F-16 fighter jets and 37 F-35 fighter jets with 15 more on the way. Finland has orders for 62 F/A-18 Hornets and 64 F-35s, while Denmark has orders for 58 F-16s and 27 F-35s. Sweden has more than 90 Gripens aircraft. It was not clear how many of these aircraft are currently operational.
The signing of the agreement, last week at the Ramstein airbase (Germany), was attended by the head of the NATO Air Command, General James Hecker, who also controls the US Air Force in the region. Sweden and Finland are applying to join the Atlantic partnership next year. However, the process was delayed by the reluctance of Turkey, which together with Hungary had yet to ratify membership.
Nordic air force commanders discussed closer cooperation at their first meeting in November in Sweden. “We would like to see if we can further integrate our annotated airspace so that we can use information from each other’s radar systems and use it collectively,” Dam said.
