Finland scrambled F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets on Monday to intercept Russian planes it said was flying over the Gulf of Finland near its border.
The Finnish Air Force announced on its Twitter account that: “F/A-18 Hornets on Quick Reaction Alert was scrambled to identify Russian Antonov An-12 and Antonov An-72 transport aircraft in international airspace above the Gulf of Finland on Monday 27 May after 11 am.”
Also noted that the airspace of Finland was not violated by Russian planes.
Later Dutch aviation publication Scramble Magazine has reported that the Russian aircraft involved were An-12BK (RF-95684/20 bl) and Border Guard An-72P (RF-72019).
“The An-12 is a really old one, the aircraft was first reported with an in service date of January 1971. It started its career as an An-12PPS, but was converted to a standard An-12BK transport aircraft in 1990,” Scramble Magazine stressed.
As to An-72P, intercepted by the Finnish Hornet, this is a light short take-off and landing military transport aircraft in armed border surveillance variant.
