Since the Swedish parliament settled the defence framework decision 2015, the Swedish Armed Forces (SwAF) and FMV have evaluated different systems to enhance the Swedish air-defence capability with a medium range surface-to-air system. The Swedish government has given go-ahead to FMV to commence negotiations regarding procurement of the US Patriot air defense missile system.

A Patriot missile launcher system part of 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment, sits in a training area during the unit’s table gunnery training exercise on Kadena Air Base in Japan, Oct. 19, 2017. (Source image U.S. MoD)

The contract value is estimated to exceed 10 billion SEK.

FMV will hand over a Letter of Request for a government-to-government Letter of Offer and Acceptance to the US embassy in Sweden, marking the starting point for the initial procurement process which will result in the delivery of a detailed offer to the Swedish government.

– What happens next is that FMV will initiate discussions with our US counterparts and wait for them to submit the formal offer. Since this is classified as Foreign Military Sales (FMS) of sensitive defence equipment by the US government, the US congress will be notified of the Swedish purchase, says Joakim Lewin at FMV.

– We have a tight schedule. At the same time, however, it is important to take the time to make sure all details regarding technology, performance, time and cost end up being correct. This is a major investment in the Swedish defence capability as well as the beginning of a long term cooperation between Sweden and the USA in the area of surface-to-air defence and our discussions have yet to take place, Joakim Lewin summarizes.