WASHINGTON and BELFAST — European allies must wean themselves off an “addiction” to US defense capabilities and step up regional military planning and rearmament, Swedish defense minister Pål Jonson told Breaking Defense in an exclusive interview.
“I think the whole [of] northern Europe is waking up to an era where we have to get much more serious about defense, because we can’t be as addicted to US military power,” Jonson said during an April 9 visit to Washington. “And that’s good for us, and it’s good for the Americans” at a time when Washington wants to prioritize the Western Hemisphere and Indo-Pacific.
Jonson’s comments come amid President Donald Trump’s renewed attacks on NATO countries for failing to support the US and Israeli-led war against Iran. Trump said in a social media post last week that the alliance “wasn’t there when we needed them, and they won’t be there if we need them again.”
In spite of such criticism, Jonson said that Sweden strives “for cohesion and unity within the alliance” and stressed that, from a Swedish perspective, disagreements with the US are aired openly. He pointed to Stockholm’s response to Trump’s interest in claiming Greenland as an example.
“On Greenland, we were clear on our position, [that] this is an issue for Greenland and Denmark and no one else,” Jonson said.
Asked whether Sweden would be prepared to take a greater role in securing the Strait of Hormuz, Jonson said that Stockholm had yet to receive from Washington for such action and has been focused on the northern flank of NATO.
“With all this said, of course, we’re part of this 30 country coalition led by the by the UK, and we’re very clear that safe sea lines of communication and opening up the Hormuz is also a strong Swedish interest as well, and we stand ready to contribute to a solution, be that politically or diplomatically, or some something else,” he added. “So that’s our position in that regard, and then we’ll see. We’ll take it from there.”
Jonson did say that he sees defense cooperation between Sweden and the US proceeding as normal, remarking that “our FMS [Foreign Military Sales] collaboration works well.”
In March, the State Department cleared Stockholm to acquire Lockheed Martin produced M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) at an estimated cost of $930 million. Sweden has also acquired Patriot -3 fire units, PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles and near term, is set to receive delivery of at least four TPY-4 air surveillance radars.
To strengthen defense cooperation, Göran Mårtensson, Sweden’s national armaments director (NAD) met “last week” with Michael Duffey, under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, according to Jonson.
“We’re looking into what we can do with Americans, both on license production and coproduction,” of weapons said Jonson. “We haven’t had any significant issues,” concerning orders. He also welcomed the Trump administration’s effort to reform the FMS process.
Frigate, CV90 Upgrades
Jonson also gave updates on a series of defense acquisition efforts Stockholm is working on.
Sweden is one of six European countries — alongside Estonia, Finland, Norway, Lithuania and The Netherlands — that are eyeing a joint procurement of new CV90 infantry fighting vehicles. Jonson hinted that a contract with manufacturer BAE Systems Hägglunds could be finalized at the Eurosatory trade show, held in France in June.
“There are separate negotiations with each country [and BAE] right now in order to fulfill their expectations on the price and the delivery time,” said Jonson. “So I expect a few of those actually to happen during this summer. We’ll see if something’s going to happen at Eurosatory or not.”
Given that each country is managing its negotiations with BAE, it’s possible that not all six will reach consensus on production times, local workshare agreements and even the final design of the CV90 Mk IV.
Jonson noted that the “more countries we can have in the user group and the more we can have [settle on] a new version, which everybody’s kind of using….. the better it is for us.”
Estonia’s Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur told Breaking Defense in February that as part of negotiations, he is pushing for local production of CV90 parts and wants deliveries to take place by the end of 2030. He also raised concerns that Hägglunds won’t be able to produce enough unit to meet that timeline.
Jonson did not knock down those concerns, instead saying, “I hope that we can resolve the matters, but it’s in the hands of the national armament directors and then also the companies, BAE Systems Hägglunds’ interactions with the Estonian side.”
On naval matters, he noted that a selection decision for new frigates is still on pace to take place this “spring” with three competitors involved in the acquisition process — France’s Naval Group, Spain’s Navantia and a joint pitch from local industry giant Saab, alongside the UK’s Babcock.
As previously reported, the procurement of four new frigates to the Royal Swedish Navy, designated the Luleå-class, will strengthen the service’s capabilities in the Baltic Sea and the High North, amid threats from Russia. The acquisition cost, though undisclosed, is expected to be around 40 to 60 billion Swedish kronor, or approximately $4.5 to $6.7 billion.
Finally, Jonson noted that Stockholm is in a holding pattern while Canada decides whether to go ahead with fighter jet acquisition plans that could see a mixed fleet buy of F-35 fifth generation types and Saab manufactured Gripen combat aircraft. Jonson indicated that no additional movement on the matter has been disclosed by Ottawa, but said the dialogue is “predominately” focused on a possible sale of Swedish GlobalEye Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) planes.
“They’re looking into it [GlobalEye] as a possible replacement for the AWACS fleet,” he explained.
