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READER QUESTION

Why did military jets escort an SAS flight in Stockholm on Monday?

In case you heard a loud noise over Stockholm just after lunch on Monday, don’t worry, it was just a military escort welcoming home Sweden’s Paralympic athletes.

Published: 9 September 2024 14:18 CEST
Why did military jets escort an SAS flight in Stockholm on Monday?
Four Jas Gripen Jets welcomed home Sweden's Paralympians on September 9th. Photo: Martin Baxter

Four Jas Gripen jets were scrambled to escort the SAS commercial flight as it came in for landing at Stockholm Arlanda, an Armed Forces spokesperson confirmed to The Local.

The aircraft touched down at 1.39pm, according to Flight Radar.

We got in touch with the Armed Forces to ask after a reader of The Local spotted the formation, sent in a picture and asked us what was going on.

“That’s correct,” said the spokesperson when we asked whether the jets were accompanying the Paralympic medallists.

Sweden took home one silver and two bronze medals in the 2024 Paralympics, including Anna Benson who came in second in the mixed 50 metres air rifle, as well as cyclist Anna Beck and judoka Nicolina Pernheim.

The event ended in Paris on September 8th.

It’s not uncommon for the air force to welcome home returning medallists with a military escort.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s four jets welcoming home Paralympic athletes. Photo: Martin Baxter

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MILITARY

Sweden set to spend 138 billion kronor on defence in 2025

Sweden is boosting its defence budget by 13 billion kronor for next year, going above and beyond Nato spending minimums.

Published: 18 September 2024 08:48 CEST
Sweden set to spend 138 billion kronor on defence in 2025

The increase will mean that Sweden’s defence budget in 2025 would amount 138 billion kronor, or 2.4 percent of GDP, the government said, above the 2 percent of GDP minimum that Nato expects its members to allot to defence.

For 2024, defence spending was expected to stand at 2.2 percent of GDP, according to government estimates.

The Nordic country dropped two centuries of military non-alignment and applied for membership in the US-led alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – becoming the 32nd member in March of this year.

“The security situation has continued to deteriorate,” Defence Minister Pål Jonson told a press conference.

Further investments were also announced going up to 2030, which were expected to bring the total military budget to the equivalent of 2.6 percent of GDP by 2028.

In April, a Swedish parliamentary commission recommended measures to strengthen the country’s armed forces and bring defence spending to 2.6 percent of GDP.

The Swedish Defence Commission said the Scandinavian country needed to respond to new conditions, citing heightened tensions in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Sweden’s recent integration into the Nato military alliance.

It recommended additional army brigades and navy personnel, a rise in the number of conscripts trained up every year and the creation of Sweden’s first ever rocket artillery unit.

In a statement, the government said the 2025 defence budget aimed to “increase the Swedish Armed Forces’ operational capacity by investing in personnel, materiel and infrastructure”.

It said the target for 2025, was for “8,000 conscripts to complete basic training”.

Sweden drastically slashed its defence spending after the end of the Cold War but reversed course following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.

In March 2022, after Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine, Stockholm announced it would increase spending again, aiming to dedicate two percent of GDP to defence “as soon as possible”.

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