Sweden signs HIMARS deal, forges rocket artillery pact with Finland

Col. Oscar Elardt of the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), Finland’s Minister of Defense Antti Häkkänen, Sweden’s Minister for Defense Pål Jonson and Army Chief Maj. Gen. Major Johan Pekkari during a press brief at Ärna Airbase north of Stockholm. (Jonas Olsson/Breaking Defense)

ÄRNA AIR BASE, Sweden — Sweden today announced it has signed a SEK 7 billion ($732 million) deal to procure the Lockheed Martin’s M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System ( HIMARS ), as part of an ongoing overhaul of NATO’s newest member’s long-range strike options.

The announcement came in front of a US Army HIMARS launcher that had been transported from an undisclosed location in Europe to the hangar here at the air base just outside Uppsala, and was made alongside officials from Finland, Sweden’s close neighbor which will play a role in helping Sweden bring the capability online.

The acquisition comprises “just over” ten launchers together with a “substantial quantity” of ammunition, Defense Minister Pål Jonson said to the reporters in the hangar, without being more specific. The first deliveries of launchers and ammunition are set for 2027, as part of a deal the defense chiefs said. This is the first contract of a deal the the American Government approved in March

Jonson said that the system will also enable “future use” of the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), with a range of up to 500 kilometres, “capable of striking high-value targets in depth.”

“The long-range precision capability that you get with HIMARS is something we [the Army] don’t have in our toolbox at the moment. We have it in the Air Force, but we also need it in the Army,” the head of the Swedish Army, Maj. Gen. Johan Pekkari, told Breaking Defense on the sidelines of the press briefing.

He stressed that it is a deep-strike capability that will add to the recently operational Taurus missiles the Air Force’s Gripens can now carry.

Alongside the procurement, Lockheed Martin and Sweden’s defense giant Saab have signed a letter of intent to explore integrating Saab’s Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) and producing munitions for HIMARS and other systems, including the Patriot air-defense system (PAC-3).

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“We need to produce a lot more munitions in Europe and in Sweden. I am particularly glad that Saab and Lockheed Martin are teaming up on this, and this includes everything from the GLSDB that Saab and Boeing have developed, in combination also with PrSM, or potentially other long-range strike capabilities,” Jonson told Breaking Defense.

During the press briefing, he said the “first steps” are now being taken toward “joint production in Sweden” of rocket artillery ammunition. However, production will start at Saab’s factory in Grayling, Michigan.

“I think it’s great if they [Saab] could expand production there [the factory in Grayling] or elsewhere. We want to ensure that we have a good security of supply on the munitions side; that’s absolutely crucial.”

The head of Saab Dynamics, Görgen Johansson, told Breaking Defense that this is a first step toward production in Europe.

“It is still only a letter of intent, but we are setting up a production area right now in Grayling, Michigan. Over time we are open to seeing whether we could do something in Europe as well,” Johansson said, on site in the hangar.

Finland As Sustainment Center

Since Sweden does not yet operate their own HIMARS, Finland will help with maintenance and training. Lockheed Martin is also setting up Europe’s first HIMARS maintenance center in the Finnish city ofTampere — a move Finland’s Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen said was deliberate.

“We made a deal with Lockheed Martin that the center will come to Finland, which will support the whole of Europe” he told Breaking Defense adding, “We hope allies procuring new HIMARS will also use our center for sustainment. Sweden is now the first one, and that’s why I’m here [for the signing ceremony].”

Finland already operates Lockheed’s tracked MLRS variant, which uses the same munitions family, so the defense pact signed today by the Swedish and Finnish defense ministers goes well beyond sustainment. “Well, sustainment, spare parts — and we are now also starting cooperation on ammunition, because of the interoperability between MLRS and HIMARS. That’s a big one,” Häkkänen said.

However, the defence chiefs in the hangar today were certainly aware of repeated reports of delays in deliveries of American-made weapons because of the war in the Middle East. This spring, several European countries were informed by the US government of possible delays to already purchased weapons. Estonia had previously signalled delays in HIMARS deliveries. But that doesn’t seem to bother the Swedish defence minister.

“No, it doesn’t. That is based on the fact that we can build up security of supply on the industrial side between Saab and Lockheed Martin. I think that’s good for all countries who are operating the HIMARS system” Jonson told Breaking Defense.

瑞典国防物资管理局 (FMV) 的奥斯卡·埃拉特上校、芬兰国防部长安蒂·哈卡宁、瑞典国防部长帕尔·琼森和陆军参谋长少将约翰·佩卡里少将在斯德哥尔摩北部的阿尔纳空军基地举行新闻发布会。 （乔纳斯·奥尔森/突破防御）

瑞典艾尔纳空军基地——瑞典今天宣布，已签署一项价值 70 亿瑞典克朗（7.32 亿美元）的协议，采购洛克希德·马丁公司的 M142 高机动性火箭炮系统（HIMARS），这是北约最新成员国瑞典正在进行的远程打击选项全面改革的一部分。

宣布这一消息时，瑞典官员站在一辆从欧洲某处秘密地点运抵乌普萨拉郊外空军基地机库的美国陆军HIMARS火箭炮发射车前。芬兰是瑞典的近邻，芬兰将在帮助瑞典实现这一能力方面发挥作用。

国防部长帕尔·约翰逊在机库向记者表示，此次采购包括“略多于”十套发射器以及“大量”弹药，但他并未透露更多细节。国防部长们表示，根据协议，首批发射器和弹药将于2027年交付。这是美国政府3月份批准的这项协议中的首份合同。

约翰逊表示，该系统还将使射程达 500 公里的精确打击导弹 (PrSM) 能够“在未来发挥作用”，该导弹“能够纵深打击高价值目标”。

瑞典陆军司令约翰·佩卡里少将在新闻发布会间隙告诉《防务新闻》：“HIMARS系统所提供的远程精确打击能力是我们（陆军）目前所不具备的。空军拥有这种能力，但陆军也需要它。”

他强调，这将增强空军鹰狮战斗机的纵深打击能力，使其能够携带最近投入使用的金牛座导弹。

除了采购之外，洛克希德·马丁公司和瑞典国防巨头萨博公司还签署了一份意向书，探讨整合萨博公司的陆基小直径炸弹（GLSDB）并为HIMARS和其他系统（包括爱国者防空系统（PAC-3））生产弹药。

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“我们需要在欧洲和瑞典生产更多弹药。我特别高兴萨博和洛克希德·马丁公司正在合作开展这项工作，这包括萨博和波音公司开发的GLSDB的所有产品，以及PrSM或其他远程打击能力，”约翰逊告诉《防务新闻》。

在新闻发布会上，他表示，目前正在采取“第一步”，朝着在瑞典“联合生产”火箭炮弹药的目标迈进。不过，生产将在萨博位于密歇根州格雷林的工厂开始。

“我认为如果他们（萨博）能够扩大在格雷林工厂或其他地方的生产规模，那就太好了。我们希望确保军火供应的稳定可靠；这至关重要。”

Saab Dynamics 的负责人 Görgen Johansson 告诉 Breaking Defense，这是迈向欧洲生产的第一步。

“目前还只是一份意向书，但我们正在密歇根州格雷林市建立一个生产基地。随着时间的推移，我们也愿意考虑是否在欧洲开展业务，”约翰逊在机库现场说道。

芬兰作为可持续发展中心

由于瑞典目前尚未拥有自己的HIMARS系统，芬兰将协助其进行维护和培训。洛克希德·马丁公司还在芬兰坦佩雷市设立了欧洲首个HIMARS维护中心——芬兰国防部长安蒂·哈卡宁表示，此举是经过深思熟虑的。

“我们与洛克希德·马丁公司达成协议，该中心将落户芬兰，为整个欧洲提供支持，”他告诉《防务新闻》，“我们希望采购新型HIMARS导弹系统的盟国也能利用我们的中心进行维护。瑞典现在是第一个，这也是我来这里（参加签约仪式）的原因。”

芬兰目前已装备洛克希德·马丁公司生产的履带式多管火箭炮系统（MLRS），该系统使用同系列弹药，因此瑞典和芬兰国防部长今天签署的防务协议远不止于后勤保障。“当然，后勤保障、备件——而且由于MLRS和HIMARS之间的互操作性，我们现在也开始在弹药方面开展合作。这意义重大，”哈卡宁说道。

然而，今天在机库里的国防部长们肯定已经注意到，由于中东战争，美国制造的武器交付屡遭延误的报道。今年春天，美国政府曾通知几个欧洲国家，他们已经购买的武器可能会延迟交付。爱沙尼亚此前也曾表示，HIMARS导弹系统的交付将会延迟。但这似乎并没有让瑞典国防部长感到担忧。

“不，并非如此。这是基于我们可以在萨博和洛克希德·马丁之间建立起工业方面的供应安全这一事实。我认为这对所有使用HIMARS系统的国家都有好处。”约翰逊告诉《防务新闻》。