Sweden to spend $440 million on unmanned military drone systems

Sweden will spend 4 billion crowns ($437 million) on unmanned drone systems to be delivered over the next two years, the country's Defence Minister Pal Jonson said on Monday.

The NATO member will buy unmanned systems including long-range attack drones, electronic warfare systems and surveillance drones as well as marine surveillance and minesweeping drones.

"No one knows what the next war will look like but one thing is clear, the future battle field will be characterised by unmanned systems and long-range capacity," Jonson said at Sweden's annual defence conference in Salen, northern Sweden.

"Anyone who doesn't understand that is going to be either dead or defeated. War is, as we know, a cruel teacher."

In addition, the government will invest 1.3 billion crowns in new military satellites, Jonson said.

European Union member Sweden, which joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in March 2024, has been ramping up permanent military spending since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The Swedish government is also borrowing 300 billion crowns to speed up the acquisition of new equipment such as air defence systems, submarines and surface ships.

($1 = 9.1525 Swedish crowns)

-Johan Ahlander/Reuters