Breaking Defense
STOCKHOLM and WASHINGTON — Openly acknowledging gaps in protecting its population, Sweden has announced plans to invest 15 billion Swedish kronor (about $1.6 billion) in new homeland air defense units.
Additionally, Stockholm is bolstering its space-based intelligence capabilities with new investments.
The decision reflects a shift in how Sweden’s military looks at air defense. Traditionally, it has primarily focused on protecting its own military units and military infrastructure. Now, the government is taking a step by investing in a broader capability, signed to safeguard not only wartime units and military mobilization but also cities and critical civilian infrastructure.
“This is a major investment in new Swedish air defense capability, with the explicit purpose of better protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure,” the Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson said when the news was announced at the annual Folk och Försvar national defense conference in Sälen on Sunday.
The Minister for Civil Defense Carl-Oskar Bohlin revealed that six months ago the government issued a then-secret directive to the Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency and the Swedish Armed Forces, concerning the protection of population centers as well as civilian and critical infrastructure from aerial threats. He emphasized that the initiative draws heavily on lessons from the war in Ukraine.