This is how Sweden’s defense will be designed – announcement on Friday

Sweden is in a new security policy situation after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Both the civil and military defense are to be re-equipped, and Sweden has also joined NATO.

These are some of the main features that are expected to characterize the defense committee’s final report that is presented today. There, proposals will be submitted for the design of the total defense until the year 2030. The preparation includes representatives of the eight parties in the Riksdag, experts and experts.

Sweden’s air defense is one of the issues expected to be addressed. The war in Ukraine has focused on the importance of a functioning air defense against, among other things, robots and drones. Sweden is to be part of the European sky shield initiative, a cooperation between several countries on air defense led by Germany. However, the preparation is expected to want to see an upgrade of Sweden’s national air defense.

Another question is how many brigades the army should have. There is a political will to see four brigades, while the commander-in-chief has previously said that the priority is to quickly get two army brigades in a position to participate in NATO’s ground operations.

More money for defense

NATO’s goal is that member states must spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense spending. Much suggests, however, that it is not enough to quickly bring about a rearmament. There is a discussion within NATO that defense spending should rather be around 2.5 percent. According to SVT, they want Sweden’s target to end up just above 2.5 percent in 2030.

The question is also where the money will come from. The Social Democrats would like to see a form of contingency tax on high incomes for the financing, while the governing parties do not want it.

The Defense Committee does not seem to be able to give a clear answer to the question of whether conscripts should be able to be sent abroad, for example in NATO operations in other countries in peacetime.

It has been discussed whether conscripts after completing training should be able to be sent to Sweden’s future troop force in Latvia.