The Swedish Air Power recognized a number of Tu-22M3 bombers working with Sukhoi fighter escorts over the Baltic Sea on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. A minimum of one bomber carried a single Kh-22/32 anti-ship missile.
In a sortie coordinated with the NATO Baltic Air Policing effort, the Swedish Air Power launched its Saab Gripen fighters to determine and shadow the group of Russian plane as they handed close to to NATO airspace. Italian Eurofighter plane, at the moment assigned to the Baltic Air Policing mission, had been additionally launched and escorted the bombers.
🇸🇪 Swedish QRA recognized 🇷🇺 Tu-22 Bombers escorted by Su-35 fighter jets over the Baltic Sea yesterday. Mission carried out in shut cooperation with Baltic Air Policing. #NATOAirPolicing pic.twitter.com/Oe0H11FzDl
— Flygvapnet (@flygvapnet) November 28, 2025
Departing from Olenya Air Base on the Kola peninsula within the far northwest of Russia, the bomber group travelled south in direction of St Petersburg earlier than transiting the slim air hall over the ocean between Finland and Estonia. Then, turning south once more, the group handed between the Swedish island Gotland and Latvia, on a course in direction of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Simply earlier than reaching the pleasant territory the group reversed course and returned the best way they got here. In whole, Russian sources say the coaching mission lasted over 5 hours.
The Russian flight seems to have been organized equally to a earlier train in December 2024, additionally that includes plane carrying exterior missile payloads. On this new case, it’s unclear whether or not the missile pictured is a reside weapon or an inert coaching spherical. The visibly shorter nosecone part suggests the missile is the newer Kh-32 variant, which improved on the Kh-22 with a brand new engine and larger vary. Tu-22M bombers had been designed within the Sixties with maritime strike firmly in thoughts, capable of carry as much as three Kh-22/32 missiles concurrently – one on every wing, and a 3rd in a semi-recessed centre fuselage place.
Price noting that it is also a captive-carry coaching variant of the Kh-32. The coaching variant of the older Kh-22M/N usually has a black band across the warhead part or different markings that denote it as such. I don’t know if that is additionally the case with the coaching…
— Man Plopsky (@GuyPlopsky) November 27, 2025
16 Tu-22M3s had been ahead deployed to Olenya in latest days from Belaya, deep in southeastern Siberia.
This week, Russia moved round 16 Tu-22M3 bombers from Siberia to Olenja airbase on the Kola Peninsula. The airbase is situated round 220 kilometers from town middle of Kirkenes. pic.twitter.com/0FouLH7m2L
— Selshevneren (@selshevneren) November 26, 2025
In an official launch, the Russian Ministry of Protection acknowledged their plane’s intercept by NATO forces, and maintained that their flight was performed with “strict compliance” to worldwide airspace guidelines. It additionally confirmed that the bombers had been escorted by Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-35S fighter plane. This press launch was primarily equivalent to earlier ones launched for related flights prior to now. In contrast to the widely-reported incursion into Estonian airspace by MiG-31 Foxhound interceptor/strike plane, no allegation has been product of any breach of sovereign airspace.
Video footage launched by Russia reveals the bombers’ departure – with figuring out marks obscured – in addition to the Gripen and Hurricane fighters scrambled by NATO to shadow them throughout the mission.
Two Tu-22M3 long-range supersonic missile provider bombers (with the Kh-22/32 anti-ship missile) escorted by Su-35S and Su-27 fighters carried out a scheduled flight over the Baltic Sea.The period of the flight was greater than 5 hours.📹MoD RF (Nov. 27) pic.twitter.com/F2YyPfO7sV
— Massimo Frantarelli (@MrFrantarelli) November 27, 2025
Solely days in the past, a novel Tupolev Tu-134UB-L, or Tu-134A-4, was noticed and shadowed by NATO fighters over the Baltic. Escorted by two Su-30SM fighters, this variant of the Tu-134 airliner has been used as a crew coach for the Tu-22M3 in addition to the bigger Tu-160 ‘Blackjack’. It has now reportedly additionally taken on a VIP transport position.
These intercepts have probably been coordinated with the help of NATO’s new Mixed Air Operations Centre (CAOC) in Norway, which has been added alongside two present CAOCs to supervise air defence throughout Scandinavia and the Excessive North. Plane assigned to the Baltic Air Policing mission have confronted a excessive operational tempo, in some instances conducting two intercepts over the course of a single flight. On rarer events, three separate intercept taskings have been assigned to plane throughout flight.
Sweden and Finland’s accession into NATO has made the Baltic – except for Russian presence – a universally NATO bordered sea. Although they had been already allies, with growing cooperation with NATO forces, full integration into NATO’s command construction is bound to simplify the air defence scenario within the area. Swedish Gripens and Finnish F/A-18 Hornets have already accomplished rotations by means of NATO’s air policing deployments, whereas allied forces – together with U.S. Air Power B-52H Stratofortress bombers – have made use of recent coaching alternatives whereas celebrating the strengthened alliance.
