2024-07-29 17:51:47
Sweden is going to help NATO to strengthen the alliance’s potential in outer space, said the head of the space unit at the General Staff of the Swedish Air Force, Colonel Ella Carlsson, Day.Az reports with reference to Interfax.
“In Sweden, we have been conducting space research for several decades. We were asked what gaps we could fill for the alliance in the space sector,” Defense news quotes her as saying.
“We can also use outer space together with our partners to detect, record targets or threats and strike them,” she explained.
She also recalled that the Swedish military purchased SMART-L radars from Thales in 2023, which, according to the manufacturers, can detect targets at a distance of up to 2,000 km. Karlsson added that Sweden is cooperating with the Netherlands, which also purchased these radars, to study the use of such equipment.
Defense news notes that earlier in July, the Swedish government approved a strategy for defense and security in space for the first time. Also in 2022, the Swedish Air Force signed an agreement with the US Space Command to exchange information on the situation in space.
At the same time, the Esrange missile range is located in the Swedish Arctic. Previously, it was used to launch satellites for civilian purposes, but recently the CEO of the Swedish Space Corporation Charlotte Sund said that in the future, launches for the military could be carried out from here.
Sweden joined NATO in March 2024.
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