Sweden will buy the French company Naval Group’s four defense and intervention frigates as part of a “very important international defense industry contract,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced on Tuesday. Naval Group was preferred over offers from the British group Babcock with the Swedish Saab and the Spanish Navantia, as Sweden favored a swift delivery of a proven and tested model, the Prime Minister added. France had assured that it could provide a “fully equipped frigate” by 2030.
“It is one of the most significant Swedish investments in the defense sector since the introduction of the Gripen fighter jet in the 1980s,” Kristersson said, without revealing the contract’s amount.
“And this represents a tripling of Sweden’s anti-aircraft defense capabilities, as these frigates are equipped with missiles,” the Prime Minister added. This contract marks a success for the French group after a setback in Norway last year when British frigates were preferred. “The possibility of sharing costs with other countries, namely France and Greece, was also important for us,” explained the Swedish Prime Minister.
“This is a proven and integrated naval defense system for anti-aircraft defense. This means that the functional chain, with all its different subsystems, has been tested and verified for this type of ship,” he added. Sweden has significantly increased its defense investments since the start of the war in Ukraine, with membership in NATO in 2024.
Recently, France has signed several contracts to purchase Swedish equipment, including Global Eye radar aircraft and Giraffe 1X radars from Saab.
