Stockholm
This week, NATO’s newest member, Sweden, is hosting a meeting of allied foreign ministers in the southern city of Helsingborg. On the eve of the gathering, Stockholm announced the purchase of four frigates at a cost of 10 billion kronor each, opting for an “off-the-shelf” French manufacturer over a proposed design by Sweden’s own Saab and Britain’s Babcock.
The scale of the undertaking has few precedents in modern Sweden outside of the Gripen fighter jet programme. That alone should prompt serious debate. My concern is that that the vessels may be used to build a new NATO-aligned “blue-water” navy geared towards operations far beyond Sweden’s immediate strategic environment.
A far better use would be to maintain control of Sweden’s traditional naval theatre. Together with land-based Patriot missile systems and upgraded Gripen fighters, the frigates could be deployed to patrol the Ba…
