The air force commanders of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark said on Friday they had signed a letter of intent to create a joint Nordic air defense aimed at countering the growing threat from Russia. The four countries say they want to be able to act together, relying on the existing cooperation within NATO. The signing of the letter of intent last week at Ramstein Air Base in Germany was attended by NATO Air Force Chief General James Hecker, who also oversees the US Air Strength in the region.
Danish air force commander Major General Jan Dam told Reuters the desire to join the air force arose after Russia invaded Ukraine. “Our combined air fleet will be comparable in size to the air forces of a major European country,” Dam said.
“We would like to integrate our airspace surveillance so that we can use radar data from each other’s surveillance systems,” Dam said. “We’re not doing that today.”
Norway currently has 57 F-16s and 37 F-35s. It has already placed an order for 15 additional F-35 fighters.
Finland has 62 F/A-18 Hornet fighter-bombers and has ordered 64 F-35 fighters. Denmark therefore has 58 F-16s and has ordered 27 additional F-35s.
The Swedish Air Force operates over 90 Gripens fighters.
Last year, Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO, but the process of their acceptance was slowed down due to the position of Turkey and Hungary. They are the only 2 NATO countries which have not yet ratified the candidacies of Sweden and Finland.
Nordic air force commanders first discussed closer cooperation at a meeting in Sweden in November 2022.
