Norwegian F-35s Respond to Russian Surveillance During NATO Exercise
In the quiet, mountainous landscape of northern Norway, a sudden disturbance broke the peace as Norwegian F-35 fighter jets took to the skies. Their mission: intercept a Russian intelligence aircraft during NATO’s Cold Response 2026 exercise.
On March 11, at 9:30 am, the Norwegian Air Force dispatched two F-35 jets from Evenes Air Station to shadow a Russian Ilyushin Il-20M, detected near the Norwegian coast with its transponder off, as reported by the Norwegian Armed Forces.
A statement from Forsvaret, Norway’s armed forces, noted the interception as “routine and expected” amid such extensive military drills.
Details from the statement indicated that the Norwegian jets tracked the Russian aircraft along the coast until it veered north off Vesteralen. The Russian plane continued to fly south twice, reaching the vicinity of Lofoten before heading back to the Kola Peninsula by 1:30 pm.
This incident marked the second consecutive day of Russian aircraft activities in international airspace near Finnmark, Norway’s northernmost area bordering the Barents and Norwegian seas. On March 10, a similar interception occurred, involving an Il-20M north of Sørøya, which then returned to the Kola Peninsula.
During a briefing, Col. Hans Martin Steiro, commanding officer at Evenes, outlined the process of quick-reaction alert (QRA) operations. He explained that upon detection of a non-allied aircraft, an alert is triggered, and fighter jets must be airborne within 15 minutes.
Since 2022, Norwegian pilots have carried out an average of 38 QRA missions annually to intercept unidentified Russian aircraft, as per military briefings to the media.
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