Swedish Ministry of Defense's procurement agency – FMV has ordered assets from local Saab to strengthen ground-based air defense. And this will include the LSS Lv control and command system, as well as Giraffe 1X counter-drone radars.
The contract will also include weapons integration work, relevant research, and spare parts. All this will cost 2.1 billion kronor, or almost $220 million, with delivery in 2027-2028.
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In its press release, Saab emphasizes that this complements Sweden's previous orders and will provide the country's forces with a highly mobile ground-based short-range air defense system. That is, they are almost certainly intended for drone detection.
Considering how serious a threat various UAVs have become on the modern battlefield, such purchases make more than enough sense. Thus, Swedish brigades will gain the ability to better defend against such threats.
Regarding the LSS Lv control and command system itself, this is software that will help the military better determine target interceptions and data distribution between assets and units. As an example, the Ukrainian "Novator-Kreichet" vehicle for working with mobile fire groups can be mentioned.
This is complemented by Giraffe 1X radars, which have compact dimensions and a mass of up to 300 kg, allowing installation on the same pickups. At the same time, targets can be detected at a distance of up to 75 km with operation in the X IEEE band. Recently, these assets were ordered in the US for countering drones.
Interestingly, the contract also provides for research on integrating the above-mentioned systems with large Giraffe AMB radars for medium-range operation. This could help close holes where drones could slip through.
Overall, we see that with the increasing threat from various unmanned vehicles, Sweden is investing in detection assets. However, the question remains regarding capabilities for budget-friendly countermeasures, rather than something larger, such as the Iris-T SLM air defense system.
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