Sweden trains with NATO Allies in Exercise Aurora 2023

Sweden trains with NATO Allies in Exercise Aurora 2023. Sweden has hosted an exercise involving 26,000 personnel from Sweden and various NATO Allies including Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States. Exercise Aurora 23 tested Sweden’s capacity to defend itself against any potential threat. Exercise Aurora 23 ran from 17 April until 11 May and took place primarily in southern Sweden and in and around Gotland. The Swedish Armed Forces trained alongside various NATO Allies to exchange tactics and to enhance a long-standing cooperation. shots of Swedish Army Leopard tanks, NH-90 helicopters and soundbites from General Micael Bydén, Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, and Colonel Anders Jönsson, Swedish Navy. “The exercise Aurora. Aurora stands for dawn, meaning the beginning of the build-up of the Swedish armed forces. It’s a very big exercise with more than 26,000 participants from, of course, Sweden, but also from 14 other nations. “The exercise stands on a national defence from, is based on a national defence exercise, but also together with the partners. So, we have the main objectives for the Air Force is to be able to command the units, but also to provide the host nation support for partners, but also to integrate them together with the Swedish units and to be able to command all of it.” “We come from a situation where the capability, the military capabilities were very low, small numbers, the realisation that the development of the world is not as positive as we saw before. Look what happened last year with the full invasion, the war is back in Europe. So now we’re building again. We need a strong national defence even though we are entering NATO sooner or later, you need a robust, solid national defence to take care of your own safety and defence.” “Of course, we bring in knowledge about fighting in this environment at our territory down south here, not least up north, harsh conditions, very cold, so that would be one thing. Modern thinking, high level of training and education for our officers, that would be part of what we bring to the table.” “The main thing will be to have a security guarantee as a country. So, it’s a political decision to be part of something greater, the military alliance, but also being able then to be part of the real operational planning, including bringing our national planning into NATO, to be part of it and not least be part of NATO’s deterrence. And I know today that Swedish military capabilities will add to NATO deterrence.”