European natural gas imports and storage reserves

Re:European natural gas imports and storage reserves by jopsen on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @05:14PM (#32830254)

There was already Norway, Denmark and Poland fairly close by (close in terms of air travel).

But yes, Sweden and Finland in NATO is nice. Also for the fact that NATO not intervening in aggression against Sweden or Finland is hard to imagine, so getting papers on the marriage is nice for all parties involved.

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Re:European natural gas imports and storage reserves by jltsiren on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @06:05PM (#32830783)

The idea is that if Sweden and Finland are not members of NATO, their airspace would be closed to NATO air forces in a NATO–Russia conflict. Then the only way to reach Baltic airspace would be flying past Kaliningrad.

Also, as far as I understand, the combat radius fighter jets is quite short. It's something like 500 to 1200 km, depending on aircraft type and weapons load. Having bases 100 or 200 km closer is already a significant advantage.

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Re:European natural gas imports and storage reserves by KptMarchewa on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @06:42PM (#32831125)

The fighter jets can refuel during flight, which is a routine operation.

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Re:European natural gas imports and storage reserves by jltsiren on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @08:11PM (#32831737)

Tankers won't help here. The problem is that NATO fighters would effectively have to fly over Russia before they can reach the Baltic states. The area where tankers can operate safely already has plenty of NATO airbases.

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