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Sweden is set to test new “drone swarm technology” in an effort to bolster the country’s defences amid rising tensions with Russia.
The Nordic country will test the drones during its upcoming Arctic Strike exercise, which is described as an “operational live fire experiment”.
The technology allows groups of drones of different sizes to form and then solve tasks autonomously, Swedish defence minister Pal Jonson said.
“With these drone swarms it is possible to conduct both reconnaissance, positioning and identification,” he said.
“We will need to take some risks to build a stronger defence capability faster than we normally do,” Mr Jonson added.
Marcel Plichta, former analyst at the US Department of Defense, said drone swarms are typically made up of 50 units and are the “next step” for militaries around the world.
He explained that most advanced militaries, including the US, China and Russia are experimenting with the technology, which can be used from laying mines to identifying targets.
Although the swarm concept has been around for a number of years, the technology has been developed by defence equipment group Saab and Sweden’s armed forces over the past 12 months.
Sweden joined Nato in March 2024 as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine and plans to increase defence spending to reach 2.6 per cent of GDP in 2028, compared with 2.2 per cent in 2024.
In 2024, Norway and Sweden joined forces to carry out the Arctic Strike exercise which followed a larger operation including the US, UK and the Netherlands.
More than 20,000 soldiers from 13 nations took part in drills lasting for nearly two weeks in the northern regions of Finland, Norway and Sweden.
Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, joined Nato April 2023 in a historic move following decades of military non-alignment.
For years, the biannual Nato drill, which has been conducted in the Arctic extremes of northern Norway, was called “Cold Response.”
But the name was changed to Nordic Response after Finland and Sweden joined the alliance in 2023 and 2024.
The UK, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United States took part in last year’s exercise.
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