“Creo que lo que qued\u00f3 muy claro el 24 de febrero de este a\u00f1o fue: que Rusia est\u00e1 dispuesta a asumir mayores riesgos pol\u00edticos y militares y el umbral para el uso de la fuerza militar es muy bajo”, dijo el ministro de Defensa sueco, P\u00e5l Jonson, a Breaking Defense.<\/p>\n
HALIFAX \u2014 Drones, space-based surveillance capabilities and munitions could get increased attention from\u00a0Sweden<\/a>\u00a0as the Nordic nation attempts to boost spending for modernization in the coming years, according to its new defense minister.<\/p>\n Since coming into power this fall, Sweden\u2019s new government has laid out three defense priorities. The first is joining NATO, and the second is increasing military support for Ukraine \u201cincluding the transfer of more advanced military weapons systems,\u201d P\u00e5l Jonson, who became Sweden\u2019s top defense official in October, told Breaking Defense.<\/p>\n The third priority involves increasing Sweden\u2019s defense budget over time. In November, Sweden\u2019s armed forces put forward a proposal\u00a0to increase military spending to 2 percent of its gross domestic product \u2014 the longheld goal for NATO members \u2014 by 2026 instead of its previous declaration to do so by 2028.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what became crystal clear on the 24th of February this year was that Russia is willing to take bigger political and military risks \u2026 and the threshold for the use of military force is very low,\u201d Jonson said in an interview on the sidelines of Halifax International security Forum. \u201cAnd that\u2019s a reality that we have to take into consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n Sweden must speed up its military modernization plans in order to ensure it is able to fend off Russian aggression, and Swedish defense officials are closely watching the ongoing conflict in Ukraine to help inform what technologies the nation will need to contend against Moscow, Jonson said.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing that\u2019s clear, of course, is that drones play a critical role in contemporary warfare, and we\u2019ve seen that of course, in Armenia [and] Azerbaijan. We\u2019ve seen in in Syria. We\u2019ve seen it in Yemen. We\u2019ve seen it in Afghanistan. But it\u2019s even more clear here [in Ukraine],\u201d Jonson said.<\/p>\n The war also has made clear how important access to information is, and one area that Sweden is particularly interested in is the intelligence that can be gleaned from space-based capabilities such as reconnaissance satellites, he said. Finally, Sweden may have to increase its investments in long- and medium-range precision weapons, like cruise missiles and rockets.<\/p>\n Jonson\u2019s comments on modernization echo those made by Gen. Micael Byden, Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, who laid out the military\u2019s modernization and procurement strategy in November.<\/p>\n Like Jonson, Byden underscored the need to supply its ground force with more long-range fires and drones and said that \u201cthe national ability to launch satellites will be developed\u201d in coming years. Byden also called for increased investment in maritime capability, specifically in surface ships and their associated combat systems.<\/p>\n