Sweden and France signed a new strategic partnership to strengthen co-operation on defense during French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to Sweden on January 30th.
According to Sweden’s defense company Saab’s press release anti-tank and air defence have been identified as priority areas for co-operation, two capabilities identified as particularly critical for the armed forces of both countries, especially in the context of high-intensity conflicts.
On 31 January, Micael Johansson and Eric Béranger, the CEOs of Saab and MBDA, signed Letters of Intent to strengthen the co-operation between their companies in these two fields, at the Business Forum organized in the presence of the highest French and Swedish authorities.
“The closeness between Saab and MBDA is reflected in our co-operation over many years, and the deepening and broadening of that through these Letters of Intent is most welcome. Doing this here in Stockholm during the state visit by President Macron to Sweden is symbolic of how two European governments working together can facilitate industry in strengthening our collective security,” said Micael Johansson, President and CEO of Saab.
Eric Béranger CEO of MBDA, said: “This is an exciting new step in our long-standing partnership with Saab. We are both world leaders in the anti-tank and air defence domains and we will be combining our expertise to deliver the best capabilities for the armed forces on the battlefield. The signature of these Letters of Intent is further proof that co-operation lies at the very heart of MBDA’s values.”
A first contract has been awarded to Saab and MBDA by the DGA, the French contracting entity, and the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV - Försvarets Materielverk).
Saab said in the statement “This will enable the pooling of Saab and MBDA’s expertise in the anti-tank domain, in order to support the Swedish and French armed forces' choice of the AKERON MP weapon system in the short term. This will also enable the implementation of a joint capability roadmap to develop new functionalities associated in particular with beyond line-of-sight firing, and also to prepare the missile to address the future generation of targets that will arrive on the battlefield. This roadmap will maintain AKERON MP's position as the benchmark weapon in its field, and an indispensable tool in high-intensity conflicts.
Saab and MBDA are long-standing partners, as illustrated by their co-operation on the Meteor air-to-air missile programme and the TAURUS cruise missile, as well as in the European MARSEUS consortium that aims to provide a sovereign European beyond line-of-sight missile firing capability.”
