Sweden’s government on Monday announced that it was buying German-made air defense systems for nine billion kronor ($930 million) as the Nordic country has begun ramping up defense spending.
The IRIS-T SLM, made by Germany’s Diehl, is a medium-range air defense missile system.
“This air defence system is the first we are acquiring and perhaps one of the most important capabilities Sweden has acquired since our Patriot purchase in the 1990s,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a press conference.
Speaking alongside Kristersson, Defence Minister Pal Jonsson said that the war in Ukraine had been an “eye opener for the importance of a strong air defense.”
Kristersson said the investment was part of “the rapid rearmament that is already under way.”
The Nordic country drastically slashed defense spending after the Cold War ended but reversed course following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Sweden’s government announced in March that it wanted to add some 300 billion kronor to its defense spending over the next decade and that this would bring defense to 3.5 percent of GDP by 2030, up from the current 2.4 percent.
The Nordic country dropped two centuries of military non-alignment and applied for NATO membership after Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in 2022, becoming the alliance’s 32nd member in March last year.
US President Donald Trump has demanded NATO allies commit to spending 5 percent of GDP on defense, and members will try to reach a deal at a meeting this week.
NATO chief Mark Rutte has urged members to commit 3.5 percent on direct military spending by 2032 and an additional 1.5 percent on broader security-related expenditure.
