Sweden beefs up air defense in rearmament push amid Russian threat

AFP and Global Watch | 2025-12-01

Sweden will acquire anti-air defense equipment worth 3.5 billion kronor ($233 million) to protect itself against missiles, drones and combat aircraft amid a growing threat from Russia.

The country will invest about 2 billion kronor ($212 million) to purchase IRIS-T surface-to-air short-range missiles, and 1.5 billion kronor ($159 million) for the vehicles used to deploy them, the Swedish armed forces said in a statement on November 25.

"This is a significant strengthening of our air defense," Defense Minister Pal Jonson told reporters at a press conference at an air defense regiment in Halmstad in southern Sweden.

The equipment will be used to "shoot down fighter jets, cruise missiles, and various types of drones," he added.

Defense group Saab confirmed it had received an order from the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) for sensors and command-and-control systems for a ground-based air defense system, worth 2.1 billion kronor.

Deliveries will take place between 2027 and 2028, the group said.

"The radar can, for example, detect drones no larger than a milk carton from over 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) away," Jonson said.

Sweden has accelerated its increase in military spending following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and its own NATO membership in 2024.

Boosting ammunition production

After the Cold War, Sweden drastically slashed its defense spending as it focused military efforts on international peacekeeping missions.

It reversed course following Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, and started increasing military expenditure.

Sweden plans to allocate 300 billion kronor ($32 billion) to defense spending over the next decade.

Other Nordic and Baltic countries also are stepping up their defense cooperation to counter future threats while supporting NATO's capabilities in the north, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen told AFP on November 12

"Today, we already discussed the use of 250 Nordic fighter aircrafts from the air forces as a unified force," he said.

Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Denmark are planning to triple ammunition production and develop military mobility corridors in the Nordic region, he added.

Nordic and Baltic countries also announced on November 13 that they would contribute $500 million to a scheme set up to purchase US weapons for Ukraine.

The funds will be allocated for military equipment and ammunition under NATO's Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), said Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden in a joint statement.

The mechanism enabling the purchase of US stockpiles was launched by US President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in July.