Norway: Increased Russian Military Activity

Norwegian jet fighters were three times this week scrambled to meet Russian bombers which flew close to the Norwegian coast. The flights are seen as part of a Russian military exercise.


On Tuesday the Russian Tupolev bombers flew down to Troendelag before turning back north.

In the early hours of Friday morning they were escorted by Norwegian jet fighters as far down as the waters between Stavanger and Aberdeen, before returning to Russia.
On Friday morning another two bombers approached the coast of Finnmark, when they were met by Norwegian jet fighters, and turned back out to sea.

The Norwegian Defence has seen an increased activity by Russian military aircraft along the Norwegian coast over the last couple of years.

- There has been a gradual increase in the activity since the down-period of the Russian Defence in the middle of the 1990's, says Defence spokesman John Inge Oeglaend.

- We must go back to the Soviet era to find such high (military) activity on land, sea and in the air, says Deputy leader of the Barents Secretariat, Thomas Nilsen.

Defence experts see this as a sign that the Russian military forces now have more money to spend on preparedness.

This week the Russians ended their annual summer exercise in the northern region.

As part of the NATO preparedness agreement, Norway always has two fully armed jet fighters on full alert at the Bodoe Air Base, ready for take-off.