Pentagon exploring new Swedish army engineering amid talks of NATO enlargement

Prepared by

Brandi Vincent
Might 9, 2022 | FEDSCOOP

The Office of Defense is hunting at Swedish military technologies to see if it satisfies U.S. army desires at a time when Sweden may be poised to be a part of the NATO alliance.

All through their very first intercontinental excursion in two years, officials from the Pentagon’s International Comparative Screening (FCT) plan — which hunts for slicing-edge, non-U.S.-produced solutions with a large technological innovation readiness stage to deploy for Protection Section applications — just lately visited the Scandinavian nation. That journey also unfolded as Sweden considers joining NATO — and likely bringing its impressive technological innovation portfolio to the armed forces alliance.

Sweden has been a very long-time defense lover with the United States, but has remained outdoors the NATO safety pact. Having said that, Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has shifted general public opinion in Sweden and prompted a reconsideration of no matter whether the country should really sign up for NATO.

“As everybody states, it is a political final decision and no one particular has produced up their brain still. I believe Sweden, as a small- or mid-sized state, has really small connections concerning the armed service problems and the technological innovation. And we are regarded to be a single of the world’s most ground breaking international locations. We have some leading-notch technology,” Swedish Armed Forces Main Scientist, Col. Rickard Stridh advised FedScoop previous 7 days at the Property of Sweden, which is found in Washington and houses the Swedish Embassy.

Stridh was among the quite a few officers who spoke at the 18th U.S.-Sweden Defense Market Convention, which was hosted by the Nationwide Protection Industrial Affiliation (NDIA).

Bryant Streett, director of mission prototypes in the Pentagon’s place of work of the undersecretary of defense for investigate and engineering, stated that Sweden has been a person of the FCT program’s ideal sources of innovative systems. He famous that the Swedish aerospace and defense organization Saab AB “is in all probability the enterprise which is been the most successful with FCT in excess of the final 40 years” in terms of the amount of funded tasks.

“I consider we’ve funded 80-in addition FCT jobs from Sweden around the a long time. Around $200 million invested by [the office of the secretary of defense] for individuals assignments, and possibly 30-as well as of those have led to a procurement or to fielding. And that is with a finances, a procurement acquisition, of like $1.5 billion. So, Sweden has finished really effectively around the many years for the reason that they’ve had really fantastic technologies that have been much better in a lot of instances than we have here,” Streett explained.

Mandated by Congress with annually funding, FCT is a system by which DOD can lover with allies to “save cash on the enhancement of systems and systems where the international business has already invested a substantial amount of money” to establish the procedure, according to Streett.

Officers are seeking for prototypes to take a look at and perhaps purchase that can provide abilities a U.S. navy provider may not but have — or possibilities to current alternatives that are less costly or much better. 

Though hypersonic missiles, for example, are outside of the scope of common FCT initiatives, Streett claimed the team is wanting for a thing along the strains of “a chip that goes into one thing, it could be a new piece of managing machines for logistics, it could be a machine that monitors chemical brokers or radiation.”

He and his colleagues observed some of individuals systems on their vacation to Sweden earlier this month. 

The FCT officers spent a working day with Saab to focus on electronic warfare and maritime technologies, and and also fulfilled with 20 other firms.

“Just to give you an idea, there were being two organizations that make substantial-energy metal, a 3rd that uses additive production for 3D printing large-toughness metal for really hard programs. [There was] a handheld chemical detector … radiation detectors, and an emergency oxygen process that allowed a re-respiration functionality so you really do not have to consider a big canister of oxygen wherever you go,” Streett mentioned.

He famous that the team also visited Finland, Norway and Denmark on their journey to engage those people nations about know-how.

Finland is also thinking of becoming a member of NATO in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.