In a joint press conference at Sweden’s People and Defense National Conference held at Sälen’s Högfjällshotell on Monday, Sweden’s Minister of Defense Pål Jonson, Army Chief Jonny Lindfors and Saab CEO Micael Johansson spoke about the secret drone swarm project developed by the Swedish Armed Forces and Saab.
Jonson said that Sweden, as NATO’s newest member, must accelerate the pace of rearmament in the face of current security risks and that one area where its armed forces was lacking was in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.
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He added “We will need to take some risks to build a stronger defense capability faster than we normally do.” He said for that reason the development of the drone swarm technology had been fast tracked over the last 12 months in a project would normally take up to five years to complete.
He revealed that Saab’s new software that will allow “off-the-shelf” commercial drones to be modified to operate in swarms making it possible for an individual soldier to control as many as a hundred operational UAVs.
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According to Lindfors, the Swedish army has taken on board the lessons of drone warfare learned from the war in Ukraine, where the pace of technological and tactical change has been rapid.
He said, “The unique thing is not the drone itself, but that we can update it and continue to be relevant.”
According to Jonson, the project allows Sweden to take ordinary drones of varying sizes, range and capability and form them into swarms and autonomously carry out different types of mission, including reconnaissance and surveillance.
He said, “An example of this could be finding, locating and identifying hostile objects. The drones in the swarm can divide the tasks among themselves. They go home and charge their batteries when needed and then return to the task.”
He added that modifications to the software would allow the drones to be rapidly converted into attack or “bomber” drones.
It is intended that the upcoming Arctic Strike 25 military exercise in March 2025 will serve as a crucial testing platform for Sweden’s drone swarm technology and will evaluate the system’s performance in realistic operational conditions.
Jonson said that the exercise will not only provide the opportunity to prove the specific technology but will demonstrate Sweden’s ability to contribute to NATO operations in the strategically important northern region.
Once the new technology is fully verified on the exercise it will be deployed with army units in 2025 and a program of training for both personnel and complete combat elements established.
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