Around 120 personnel and six Gripens from the Blekinge Air Flotilla arrived in southeastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine, as part of a NATO mission.
The Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) announced the deployment of six more JAS39 Gripen C fighters from the Blekinge Air Flotilla to northern Poland’s Malbork Air Base on May 26, 2025. The jets will bolster NATO’s air defense in support of the logistics node in the southeast of the country used for military and civilian support to Ukraine.
The deployment happened the same day as the Netherlands’ last F-16s departed from the Koninklijke Luchmacht’s Volkel Air Base to Belgium, from where they will be delivered to Ukraine.
The Blekinge Air Flotilla’s (or the F 17 Wing/Blekinge Wing) deployment to Malbork is separate from the Norrbotten Wing’s (F 21) deployment, which has been there since Mar. 26, 2025 and also includes six Gripens. That is the Flygvapnet’s first Enhanced Air Policing (EAP) mission since it joined NATO, supposed to last for two months and now technically due to conclude.
The latest release from the Forsvarsmakten doesn’t specify whether the F 21 deployment will be prolonged or if the fighters will return to Sweden this month. However, it explains the new operation involving F 17 “takes place within the framework of NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense.”
✈️🇵🇱🇸🇪#WeAreNato
Blekinge flygflottilj är just nu på plats med en styrka i Polen och deltar i Natos luftförsvarsoperation.
📸: Försvarsmakten
Läs mer: https://t.co/m3F3RVEn1U
— Flygvapnet (@flygvapnet) May 26, 2025
The F 21’s original detachment at Malbork is joined by RAF (Royal Air Force) Typhoons from RAF Lossiemouth’s IInd Army Cooperation Squadron, deployed there as part of what the RAF designated as “Operation Chessman.” Additionally, Malbork is also home to the Polish Air Force’s 22nd Tactical Air Base, which operates the MiG-29.
During the EAP, the Flygvapnet’s Gripens conducted their first interception of a Russian Air Force (RuAF) on Apr. 24, 2025. The NATO Air Command and the Forsvarsmakten (Swedish Armed Forces) revealed that two JAS39s involved in the Alpha Scramble intercepted an Ilyushin Il-20M spy plane over the Baltic Sea.
🇸🇪 F 17 Wing arrived Malbork, #Poland for #NATO integrated air policing. Protecting logistics hub for #Ukraine aid.
Live #METEOR and IRIS-T on JAS 39C #Gripen. Helmet Mounted Display System #Cobra.
Continued coop with 🇵🇱Poland and 🇬🇧 Royal Air Force.
Photos: Försvarsmakten >> pic.twitter.com/8uRufHAMgK
— Gripen News (@GripenNews) May 26, 2025
More Gripens in Poland
The new Flygvapnet contingent deployed to Poland takes the total number of Swedish Gripens there to 12, at least temporarily. However, the Forsvarsmakten release does not mention how long this new deployment will last and when the jets of the previous deployment will return to Sweden, having completed their two-month assignment.
One of the Gripens recently arrived at Malbork is seen carrying two live Meteor BVRAAMs (Beyond Visual-Range Air-to-Air Missile), as well as IRIS-T short-range AAMs on each of the wingtips. Contrary to the Gripens arrived in Poland in March, these do not appear to be carrying the Litening targeting pod, which can be used to help visual identification during intercepts.
With approximately 120 ground personnel mainly from the Blekinge Air Flotilla, and six fighter aircraft, Forsvarsmakten says the deployment is important since “Poland shares a border with Ukraine and is an important hub for the logistics of equipment that NATO and partners use to support Ukraine in the war against Russia.”
It therefore does appear that the deployment is connected with a major weapons transfer to Ukraine, especially since Russia has threatened to strike NATO bases and facilities if operations are conducted from there. The airport in Rzeszów-Jasionka has long been used to deliver military aid to Ukraine, and a robust protective infrastructure has been established around it by Poland and NATO.
Except for logistics and surveillance support, active combat sorties are carried out from within Ukraine only, preventing Russia from escalating, even as hardline voices in Moscow’s political landscape have long called for taking off the velvet gloves. The possibility of the Swedish deployment being connected to the F-16s and them being sent to Ukraine from southeastern Poland are likely, since Polish MiG-29s had previously been sent to Ukraine from this region.
6 Jas 39 Gripen of the 🇸🇪 Air Force, landed at Malbork Air base 🇵🇱, as they prepare to take on #NATO’s enhanced Air Policing Mission for the first time since their accession
NATO Air Policing is a peacetime collective defence mission
Read more: https://t.co/UOgRsXiHJQ pic.twitter.com/brNtMBiuhw
— NATO Air Command (@NATO_AIRCOM) March 28, 2025
It is unlikely Russia might strike the logistics convoys with long-range Air-Launched Cruise Missiles (ALCM) like the Kh-101 and Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missile. However, in the past, Moscow has struck Ukraine in its far-west, hitting its air bases and ammunition depots near Poland.
Integrated Air and Missile Defense
The Swedish defense statement quoted the contingent’s commander Christian Bertilsson, offering some details about the mission. “We can contribute an important air defense capability to Poland. When we contribute to NATO’s collective deterrence and defense, of which the current air defense operation is a part, the Air Force also strengthens Sweden’s security,” said Bertilsson.
The statement further added that the “operation takes place within the framework of NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense, IAMD, and the Swedish contribution is subordinate to NATO Command.”
While the Malbork EAP deployment is specifically geared towards intercepting Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea, the IAMD reference here alludes to defense also against Russian standoff missiles that, as we mentioned earlier, reached western Ukraine before. Gripens would be ideal for shooting down those missiles, carrying a large loadout of Meteors and guided by NATO E-3 AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System), and possibly even Saab 340B AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning and Control) aircraft that Stockholm announced sending to support Kyiv on May 29, 2024.
For the first time under NATO’s enhanced Air Policing 🇸🇪 Gripen scramble in response to 🇷🇺 aircraft close to NATO airspace
🇸🇪 are currently deployed to Malbork 🇵🇱 alongside the 🇬🇧RAF demonstrating seamless integration, safeguarding the integrity of Allied territory 24/7/365 pic.twitter.com/mwWO2gOtz6
— NATO Air Command (@NATO_AIRCOM) April 24, 2025
Lastly, the Swedish Gripens being deployed near Jasionka, the region hosting the logistics hub in southeastern Poland for supplies into Ukraine, also come one-and-a-half month after the U.S. announced “planned repositioning of U.S. military equipment and personnel” on Apr. 7, 2025. Leading reports read this as Washington pulling back its presence and support for NATO, although officials dismissed this interpretation.
Il-20 Coot intercepted again
Meanwhile, RAF Typhoons from Malbork intercepted again a Russian Il-20M in a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) on May 26 while it was “close to NATO airspace.”
🇬🇧 Typhoon’s scrambled from Malbork 🇵🇱 in response to a 🇷🇺 aircraft close to NATO airspace
Deployed on NATO’s Air Policing mission, the 🇬🇧 detachment are on Quick Reaction Alert 24/7/ to maintain the integrity and security of #NATO airspace pic.twitter.com/NVgmrfVHvC
— NATO Air Command (@NATO_AIRCOM) May 26, 2025
The aircraft type has frequently been intercepted, and is believed to be assigned to a squadron in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, frequently flying to and from mainland Russia.
