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http://yle.fi/uutiset/savon_sanomat_tra ... on/7271781Russian aircraft made two incursions into Finnish airspace while flying the narrow corridor between Kaliningrad and St Petersburg on May 20th
http://yle.fi/uutiset/border_guard_stop ... ns/7266193The eastern Finnish newspaper published claims on Saturday that Air Force Hornet fighters were unable to scramble in time when Russian aircraft strayed twice into Finland’s airspace.
The paper claims that military training exercises that took place the week before the incursion impacted on the defence forces’ air-readiness.
Air Force Hornet fighters were unable to scramble in time when Russian aircraft twice breached Finnish airspace last week, the Finnish daily Savon Sanomat claimed on Saturday.
Finland’s Hornets were not ready to make an inspection flight until four hours after the Russian aircraft first strayed 30 kilometres into Finland’s airspace on May 20th, the paper said.
According to the paper, the delay was caused by the jets having made a series of training flights the week before the incursion took place.
As a result of the overtime incurred during the exercises, capacity for observation patrols was momentarily reduced, the paper claimed.
A Russian plane was reportedly prevented from making a third airspace violation once the Hornet fighters were in the air and patrolling the area.
Speaking on Yle’s morning politics show Ykkösaamu on Saturday, Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö admitted that defence resources are currently tight, but played down the significance of the incursion.
“The planes weren’t four hours late, they responded four hours after something that was insignificant happened,” the president said.
Niinistö repeated earlier claims by Finland’s defence chief that the narrowness of the air corridor between Kaliningrad and St Petersburg, through which the aircraft were flying, makes it highly likely that the Russian plane strayed into Finnish airspace accidentally.
The Finnish Border Guard has announced that it is suspending its investigation into an airspace violation that saw two planes travelling from Russia veer off course, and towards Finland, on 20 May. Finnish fighter jets were scrambled to meet the intruders, which entered Finnish airspace twice over the course of the evening.
The Border Guard says in its report that the most likely explanation for what it calls a ‘probable’ intrusion was careless navigation.
The first flight was a Antonov An-26 plane that entered Finnish airspace at around 17:06 and remained there for three minutes. That plane ventured around a kilometre into Finnish territory.
The second plane was a Tupolev Tu-154, which arrived at 17:57 and was in Finnish airspace for six minutes, venturing 28 kilometres inside Finland.
The Border Guard suggests that this plane may have ventured into Finland to avoid a thunderstorm.
Juho Vanhatalo, who heads up the investigation, told Yle that the Border Guard had not received any information on the suspects’ names.
That meant he had to recommend to the prosecutor that the preliminary investigation be stopped.