Sweden to re-establish military unit on Baltic Sea island

HELSINKI — Sweden says it is establishing the nation’s first new military regiment since World War II — a unit of 350 soldiers that will be based on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland.

The Swedish government on Wednesday said the permanent unit will be deployed to the strategically important island’s main town, Visby, during 2018.

Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist said the decision was made due to a “worsened security situation” in the Baltic Sea region, where Russia has increased military operations since its 2014 annexation of Crimea and the conflict in Ukraine involving Russian-backed separatists.

RELATED

Sweden’s Hultqvist: The need to up security cooperation in the EU

These are times of uncertainty. The security challenges are more complex than ever, and our response must therefore be multifaceted.

By Peter Hultqvist

Hultqvist says the move means re-establishing Sweden’s military presence on the island that is popular with tourists.

Gotland, population 58,000, first housed an infantry regiment in 1886. The garrison was dismantled in 2005.

RELATED

Interview: Swedish Minister of Defence Peter Hultqvist

Sweden’s minister of defense spoke with Defense News while in Washington for his first meeting with officials from the Trump administration.

By Aaron Mehta

More In Europe

Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle picked for $9B JEDI successor

The selections for the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability, or JWCC, were made public Wednesday in a list of contracts published by the Pentagon.

US military’s National Media Exploitation Center to refocus on China

“We are reducing the size of NMEC,” the chief of staff said, “and we want what’s left of it to be really hyper-focused on strategic competition.”

US Army to lay out communications gear needs for industry at TEM9

The capability set initiative launched in fiscal 2021, with upgrades of off-the-shelf and specialized tech expected in 2023, 2025, 2027 and beyond.

Pentagon’s JADC2 synergy plan to drive growth at SAIC, CEO says

The Virginia-based information technology and defense company this year received more than $500 million in JADC2-related contracts.

SpaceX forms ‘Starshield’ business unit to focus on national security

Details on Starshield are light, but the company says the new unit will initially focus on Earth observation and communication capabilities.