Swedish fighter jets on NATO patrol in Poland scramble for first time due to Russian aircraft

Swedish Gripen fighter jets, which began patrolling NATO airspace from Poland in April, have been scrambled for the first time due to the presence of a Russian military aircraft.

The Swedish Gripens, deployed for NATO airspace patrol from Poland and based in Malbork near Gdańsk, carried out their first flight.

"For the first time under NATO’s enhanced Air Policing, Swedish Gripen scramble in response to Russian aircraft close to NATO airspace," NATO Air Command reported on X.

For the first time under NATO’s enhanced Air Policing 🇸🇪 Gripen scramble in response to 🇷🇺 aircraft close to NATO airspace

🇸🇪 are currently deployed to Malbork 🇵🇱 alongside the 🇬🇧RAF demonstrating seamless integration, safeguarding the integrity of Allied territory 24/7/365 pic.twitter.com/mwWO2gOtz6

– NATO Air Command (@NATO_AIRCOM) April 24, 2025

NATO Air Command also added that the work of the Swedish pilots, who are on duty alongside British forces, demonstrates "seamless integration".

In April, Swedish fighter jets began patrolling NATO airspace from Poland for the first time since Sweden joined the Alliance.

On the morning of 24 April, Poland scrambled its air force in response to a Russian missile attack on Ukraine, which has become standard procedure in such situations.