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Sweden is scaling up their arms industry in light of Russias invasion of Ukraine

Sweden, the world’s 13th largest arms exporter and NATO’s most recent member has around 200 companies, all under pressure to produce more and faster. The small building with its yellow wooden facades, located on the outskirts of Karlskoga, 250km west of Stockholm, sits far from the din of war. Here, calm reigns. In the workshop,…

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Sweden, the world’s 13th largest arms exporter and NATO’s most recent member has around 200 companies, all under pressure to produce more and faster.

The small building with its yellow wooden facades, located on the outskirts of Karlskoga, 250km west of Stockholm, sits far from the din of war. Here, calm reigns. In the workshop, workers methodically assemble Carl Gustaf AFCON anti-tank guns. They arrive here in parts. Calibrated and tested at the nearby firing centre, they are then cleaned and packed in khaki covers, before being prepared for delivery. Some will end up in Ukraine, where Swedish manufacturer Saab’s anti-tank systems – the Carl Gustaf, but also the AT4 rocket launcher and the NLAW missile – have acquired a certain notoriety on the battlefield.

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Director of Saab Dynamics, the group subsidiary focused on the land segment, Görgen Johansson did not tire of recounting the day his boss called him, in early 2022. “He had just seen that the UK had sent 3,500 NLAWs to Ukraine.” Three weeks later, on February 24, Russia launched its offensive. Ukrainian soldiers quickly posted videos on social media showing them shooting down enemy tanks. In them, they praised the famous NLAW, along with a meme sanctifying it.

An 84 mm Carl Gustav recoilless rifle, a Saab Bofors Dynamics new generation light anti-tank (NLAW) weapon, an 84 mm inert shell and an AT4 anti-armor weapon at a facility of Saab Dynamics AB, a subsidiary of Saab AB, in Karlskkoga, Sweden, on June 12, 2023.

Sweden’s arms exports rose 18 percent in 2023 to reach 1.6billion euros as the Russia-Ukraine war drove a search for weaponry, a government agency said Monday.

Most of the exports went to European Union countries and 39 countries which Sweden cooperates with, the Swedish Inspectorate for Strategic Products (ISP) said in a statement.

Sweden has a growing defence industry with Saab making the Gripen fighter jet, the Global Eye surveillance aircraft and anti-tank weapons.

“The degradation of the security situation and the continuing rearmament in the world means that the Swedish defence industry can expect many orders for a long time,” said ISP director general Carl Johan Wieslander in a statement.

“Swedish military equipment is attracting great interest, particularly in Ukraine,” he added.

Turkey also benefited from Swedish arms, according to ISP, with exports in 2023 worth four million Kronor (356,000 euros).

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