In Early 2018, 11 Russian Bombers Flew a Mock Attack on a Norwegian Radar Site

David Axe

Security,

One question: Why? 

Eleven Russian bombers in early 2018 flew a mock attack on a Norwegian radar site, Lt. Gen. Morten Haga Lunde, the director of Norway’s intelligence service, revealed in early February 2019.

The Su-24 supersonic bombers took off from Monchegorsk air base on the Kola Peninsula, flew out over the Barents Sea then turned and formed into an attack formation before zooming toward the Norwegian town of Vardø, Lunde recalled.

"Located on a small island on the Barents Sea coast, Vardø is traditionally a fishing town, but its location close to Russia’s heavy militarized Kola Peninsula makes it a perfect location for radar surveillance," The Barents Observer explained.

"The so-called Globus-II radar has for decades been a thorn in relations between Moscow and Oslo. Officially the radar observes objects in space," the news site continued. "It is also believed to be highly capable of monitoring and building a signature database of Russian ballistic missiles."

"The radars in Vardø are operated by the Norwegian Intelligence Service."

Russia frequently conducts mock air and commando raids, both as practice for war-time operations and as a form of intimidation targeting rival states.

Kristian Åtland, an expert with the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, told Barents Observer the 2018 simulated attack was a "deliberate and carefully planned Russian signaling operation."

Russian forces in July 2018 daringly simulated an assault on Gogland Island in the Finland Sea just south of Sweden. The island is Russian territory.

"The difficulty of landing on the coast of the island was [due to] the unpreparedness of the site and the choppy wind that is characteristic of all the islands of the Gulf of Finland," the Kremlin stated.

"The special forces left the side of the Mi-8AMTSH helicopter at an altitude of 2,500 meters three kilometers from the island."