Sweden to fund Ukrainian domestic production of long-range missiles, drones

Rustem Umerov, (C-L) Minister of Defense of Ukraine, greets Pål Jonson (C-R), Minister of Defense of Sweden before the start of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting on the first day of the NATO Defense Ministers’ Meeting at the NATO Headquarters on June 13, 2024 in Brussels, Belgium. (Omar Havana/Getty Images)

STOCKHOLM — The Swedish government today announced it will provide “substantial funding” for the mass production of long-range missiles and drones inside Ukraine, a major step as Stockholm seeks to bolster Kyiv’s defensive efforts.

Dollars and timelines were not revealed during the announcement, made today by Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson as he hosted his Ukrainian counterpart, Rustem Umerov. But the move shows that Stockholm is dedicated to supporting Ukraine for the long-haul.

“This will be produced in Ukraine by the Ukrainian defense industry. It will be financed by Sweden. President [Vladimir] Zelenskyy has stated that there is an especially high demand for funding long-range weapons and long-range drones,” Jonson said at a press briefing Friday at Karlsberg Palace in Solna.

“Ukraine is Sweden’s number one security priority,” Jonson stated. He later underlined that Ukraine has “the full right” in accordance with international law to defend itself “inside and outside” of its territory. As of Oct. 4, Sweden has donated military assistance worth approximately 48.4 billion Swedish krona ($4.37 billion), per a government fact sheet. Stockholm has previously pledged a commitment of 25 billion Swedish krona ($2.28 billion USD) for 2025 and the same amount for 2026, numbers the government here has said could go up if needed.

“We’re glad that we can further develop both your capability to produce long-range missiles and also long-range strike approach,” Jonson said, addressing Umerov.

According to Jonson, the two ministers on Thursday met representatives from the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI) and Sweden’s procurement agency (FMV). And “later today [Friday] we’re going to be having discussions with several representatives of the Swedish Defense Industry.”

A government spokesperson declined to give details on what kind of long-range missiles will be considered for this effort. Decisions will be made in consultation with Ukraine, as they have several different projects they are working on. The spokesperson also declined to further comment on which companies the ministers were meeting with. Saab, Sweden’s defense champion, gave no further clue.

“At this point it is too soon to speculate and we refer further questions about how Sweden might support Ukraine’s long range missile capability to the Swedish Government. Generally speaking, we are always ready for discussions with Sweden and our other customers on how we can support their needs with our knowledge and expertise,” Saab spokesperson Mattias Rådström wrote in an email to Breaking Defense.

Sweden has previously donated an Erieye platform, Saab’s Airborne Early Warning and Control System to Ukraine. Ukrainian pilots also have been trained on Saab’s Gripen fighters, and while the government says it is ready to begin giving Ukraine those jets, Jonson indicated that they have not done so at the behest of other allies.

“The donation of the Gripens is not in the hands of ourselves,” Jonson said, with other actors in the Air Force Coalition, predominantly Denmark, Netherlands and the United States, wanting to make sure Ukraine is settled with the F-16 before introducing other complex technologies into the ecosystem.

“They have advised us to wait to donate the Gripen until it goes further with the F-16 as well,” Jonson said. “So now our focus has been on delivering the Erieye platform, which is the command and control platform that [works with] the F-16.”