Swedish MoD Proposes Increases in 4-Year Budget

29 Sep 2011 By GERARD O'DWYER DefenseNews

HELSINKI - Sweden's Ministry of Defense wants to hike spending on core military units and defense support organizations and systems under the $28 billion 2012-15 budget proposal submitted this week to the parliament in Stockholm.

The proposal earmarks about $6 billion annually for core defense functions and $600 million, on average, to support organizations such as the materials procurement agency (FMV), defense research and military intelligence functions.

The MoD's four-year budget framework proposes total spending on defense of $6.73 billion in 2012, $6.92 billion in 2013, $7.2 billion in 2014 and $7.3 billion in 2015. It refocuses the Armed Forces Command's procurement strategy on off-the-shelf solutions, while cutting back spending on defense technologies and research and development.

The budget proposal was welcomed by the Armed Forces Command, which during budget consultations called for a scaled increase in spending that would take into account the military's need to acquire tactical helicopters, new-generation submarines, mobile artillery-hunting radar systems and armored vehicles, while investing further in a next-generation Gripen aircraft.

Part of the budget increase, if approved, will be allocated to reform programs, particularly the military's transition to a rapid-deployment force with a modular structure, which would be more useful for national defense and international missions.

The 2012-2015 budget plan also includes proposals intended to save costs. These measures include deepening international collaboration to support joint equipment procurement programs, and sharing military capabilities and resources with friendly nations - initially at least with Nordic neighbors Norway, Finland and Denmark through the existing Nordic Defense Cooperation vehicle.