From time to time, foreign aircraft come into Norwegian NATO airspace. Then the F-35 moves out from Evenes and is in the air within 15 minutes to identify. However, the number of such QRA discoveries has now fallen to the ground, recent figures show. Cause? The war in Ukraine. At least that’s what associate professor at the Air Force Academy Lars Peder Haga thinks. What is QRA? Norway solves the QRA on behalf of NATO. The mission means that Norway has two F-35s on standby 24/7. If an unknown aircraft approaches Norwegian and NATO airspace, the F-35 moves out from Evenes and is in the air within 15 minutes. The Air Force’s control and warning personnel then launch the combat aircraft against the unknown aircraft. The Norwegian fighter planes must observe the planes and identify what kind of plane they are and where they come from. Evenes is the Norwegian Air Force’s forward base in the north for the F-35 and main base for the P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft. (Forum of the Armed Forces) Several reasons for variation – It is simply a matter of the Russian air force prioritizing resources for Ukraine, Haga believes. – Probably the departments that fly missions in and around Ukraine have received funds. Then the activity in nearby Norwegian areas is scaled back. Recent figures from the Air Force show that in 2022, 24 scrambles were carried out and 43 identifications were made. There is a halving of the figures from 2020. – Scramble and identifications the figures vary for several reasons, explains Per Erik Solli who is a senior adviser at Nord University and military adviser at NUPI. According to Solli, Russian air military activity outside Norway varies from year to year. As, for example, due to different Russian annual training patterns, variations in the Russian budget, aircraft technical status, and what kind of western activity they want to look into more closely. Senior adviser at Nord University and military adviser at NUPI, Per Erik Solli, says there are several reasons for variations from year to year. Photo: Onar Digernes Aase / Defense Forces The war has cost Russia a lot There have not been such low numbers since 2016, when Russia was an important actor in the war in Syria. Which could be the reason for fewer assignments at the time, says Haga. Associate professor at Luftkrigskolen Lars Peder Haga believes the war in Ukraine is the reason for fewer foreign aircraft in our airspace. – I would like to believe that there will also be a low number of scrambles and identifications in 2023 as well. That is because resources are used in and around Ukraine. The low numbers of assignments will not increase anytime soon either, the researcher believes. – I would almost like to believe that you will see a permanent decline, because Russia has lost material, people and not least money. In addition, Haga believes we will see a permanent lower level of activity in the northern areas as long as the war lasts – and probably afterwards as well. – The war has cost Russia much more money than in Syria. The figures were even slightly lower in 2016, but since then they have been higher. Which does not surprise the associate professor. Only speculation Spokesman for the Air Force, Stian Roen, believes there could be many reasons why there are fewer flights in some years. Stian Roen in the Norwegian Air Force does not want to speculate on the reasons for the fake QRA mission figures Photo: Torbjørn Kjosvold / The Norwegian Air Force Saying that it is because of the war in Ukraine is just speculation, he says. For Norway and NATO, it is important to have control over what is happening in the immediate areas, which is why these missions are carried out. – There is no drama in the assignments that are carried out, but routine and standard procedure. Mainly, it is Russian military aircraft that are identified during such missions. – It’s everything from fighter planes, transport planes to bombers. When they are in international airspace they are not doing anything illegal. But our mission is to identify these planes. – When you have finished the mission, a report will be delivered to the operations center in Nato, and then you are ready for new missions. ALSO READ:
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The war in Ukraine leads to fewer QRA missions for the Norwegian F-35, according to an expert – news Nordland
