UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace re-affirmed the United Kingdom’s strong support for Sweden’s accession to NATO while hosting his counterpart, Pål Jonson, in London on 29 March 2023.
The meeting also saw the signing of a letter of intent (LoI) relating to a contract for 14 Swedish-built Archer 155 mm wheeled self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) for the British Army. The Archers will provide an initial replacement for 32 AS90 155 mm tracked SPHs being donated to Ukraine in advance of a longer-term future artillery purchase under the UK’s Mobile Fires Platform programme.
“Sweden has provided vital military aid and integral support to Ukraine and our allies through the Joint Expeditionary Force [JEF],” Wallace was quoted as saying in a UK Ministry of Defence press release. “The UK will continue to give our full support to Sweden’s accession to NATO, fortifying Northern Europe and the Baltics against Russian aggression and expanding security challenges in the region.”
The JEF is a UK-led expeditionary force launched at NATO’s September 2014 Wales Summit that includes contingents from Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway; Sweden joined the JEF in 2017 alongside Finland.
“Swedish relations with the UK will be strengthened with the agreement about cooperation on artillery signed today,” said Jonson following his meeting with Wallace. “The British leadership when it comes to supporting Ukraine is an inspiration for all of us and both Sweden and the UK will continue to support Ukraine until victory is achieved.
“I thank the UK for the quick ratification and the support of our NATO membership application,” Jonson added. “The UK has shown continued political support but also military presence in our neighbourhood – both bilaterally and through the JEF – pivotal to our security during the accession period.”
As well as working together within the JEF, the UK and Sweden are both parties of the Northern Group: a defence and security forum that also includes Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, and Poland.
The UK also signed mutual security assurances with Sweden and Finland on 11 May 2022 as a further measure of solidarity with those countries following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
This has led to Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters training with the Swedish Air Force as well as Swedish port visits by Royal Navy ships; the Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender and Type 23 frigate HMS Portland visited Sweden last summer, while the River-class offshore patrol vessel HMS Mersey exercised with the Swedish, Finnish and Baltic-nation navies earlier this month. A further port visit to Sweden will be carried out by the amphibious assault ship HMS Albion later this year.
Additionally, all three UK armed services will this spring take part in Exercise ‘Aurora’, operating as part of a Finnish Battlegroup in Sweden.
Peter Felstead
