US ISR Jet First Mission Northern Finland: Russian Subs

Thomas Nilsen at The Barents Observer has written an excellent article of March 25, 2023. Here are parts of it:

“U.S. surveillance jet makes first mission up to northern Finland" 

"Unlike Norway, which has self-imposed restraint on NATO activity near its border with Russia, Finland is now opening its skies for US intelligence flights along the eastern frontier.

…This is the first time in history that a U.S. RC-135 Rivet Joint (photo below) made a sortie inside Finnish airspace.

Finland is will “receive new F-35 fighter jets as Finland starts replacing the current fleet of F/A-18 Hornets in 2026.”

…NATO “now can use the airspace over mid- and northern Finland to collect information about the Kola-base complex area.” [see map below, courtesy dreamstime]

Russia’s Kola Peninsula is home to Putin’s fleet of ballistic missile submarines, multi-purpose submarines with long-range cruise missiles, and supersonic bomber planes. 

...Real-time monitoring

The RC-135 Rivet Joint carries monitoring sensors supporting NATO intelligence with near real-time on-scene electronic warfare signals from inside Russia. Onboard instruments can listen to military communication as well as detect Russian air defense radars and other signals. The aircraft are frequent visitors to airspace over the Black Sea, in the Baltics around Kaliningrad, and up north, over the Barents Sea. 

...Finland’s NATO membership took a significant step forward with the Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee unanimously approving the Nordic country’s accession to the alliance.

For NATO, having Finland now opening its airspace for so-called ISR missions (Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) provides for a better understanding of possible changes in Russia’s military posture in the north.

...With Russia’s war in Ukraine, the entire security landscape in Europe is now, however, dramatically changing.

“It will be interesting to see if Finland and Sweden entry into NATO will impact Norway’s national rules and regulations for allied flights in the High North and if a common regional approach will emerge,” says Per Erik Solli."

SEE WHOLE ARTICLE HERE 

BACKGROUND

On 5 July 2022, NATO signed the accession protocol for Sweden and Finland to join the alliance. There is no set amount of time to process NATO membership. But perhaps they will become members later this year.

Once Finland joins NATO, the 1,340-kilometre border with Russia will become a new NATO–Russia border.